ESS 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Natural History 



IN 



Anecdote 



ILL USTRA TING THE NA TURE, 

HABITS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 

OF ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISHES, 

REPTILES, INSECTS, 

ETC., ETC., Era. 



ARRANGED AND EDITED BY 

ALFRED H. MILES 

EDITOR OP 

The Poets and the Poetry ef the Century," "toot Aiteedtiei" 



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NEW YORK 
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PUBLISHERS 






Copyright, i8ps 9 

BY 

Dodd, Mead and CompahyV 
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NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Science. Science is classified truth. Men study the heavenly 
bodies, note their characteristics, observe their movements, and 
define their relationships; and having verified their deduc- 
tions by repeated experip|^nts^^j^flg& the truths they have 
discovered into systems, and by classifying their knowledge 
reduce it to a sci4Mmmd&m&oiGg&e 9 ($$Q[ call Astronomy. 
Astronomy is thus the classi&sd- arrangement of all known 
truths concerning the hfcv^nljt M|i«sUk. Geology, similarly, is 
the classified arrangement of all known truths concerning the 
material structure of the Earth. 
The Kingdoms The Natural World has been variously divided 

of Nature. f or the purposes of study. Linnaeus divided 
it into three kingdoms; (I) the Mineral kingdom (II) the 
Vegetable kingdom and (III) the Animal kingdom, thus 
naming the thr^e kingdoms in the order of their natural 
geneses. The Mineral kingdom comprises the inorganic forms 
of nature, — those which have no organism and which can 
only increase by external addition. The Vegetable and 
Animal kingdoms comprise the organic life of nature, — those 
forms which are provided with means for promoting their 
own development and propagating species. The Vegetable 
kingdom, while easily distinguishable from the Mineral 
kingdom is in some of its forms so similar to the lower 
forms of animal life as to suggest relationship between the 
two; while the Animal kingdom, beginning with the lower 
forms which approximate so closely to vegetable forms, 



2 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

embraces the whole range of animal life and reaches its 
highest order in man. The science which treats of organic 
life as a whole is called Biology, while its two departments 
are separately known as Botany and Zoology. Natural 
History is a general term popularly applied to the study of 
Zoology. 

Zoology. Zoology is the science of animal life. It deals 
with the origin of species, and the evolution of the varied 
forms of animated nature, and treats of the structure, habits, 
and environment of all living creatures. Scientifically speak- 
ing, Zoology is the classified arrangement of all known truths 
concerning all animal organisms. 

Classification. For convenience in study the Animal king- 
dom is divided into seven Sub-kingdoms, each of which is further 
divided into classes. These Sub-kingdoms are known as : I 
Vertebrata, II Arthropoda, III Mollusca, IV Echinodermata, 
V Vermes, VI Cceleaterata, and VII Protozoa. Sub-kingdom I, 
Vertebrata, includes all animals distinguished by the possession 
of Vertebrae or back-bones, and its classes are I Mammalia-. — 
animals that suckle their young; II Aves: — Birds; III 
Replilia: — Reptiles; IV Batrachia: — Frogs, Toads, etc.; and V 
Pisces \ — Fishes. Sub-kingdom II, Arthropoda, includes the 
Insect families, etc., which it also divides into classes. Sub-king- 
dom III, Mollusca, animals of the cuttle-fish order, including 
limpets, oysters, and slugs. Sub-kingdom IV, Echinodermata, 
a large number of marine animals, such as the star-fish 
and the sea-urchin. Sub-kingdom V, Vermes, the various 
classes of worms. Sub-kingdom VI, Ccelenterata, corals and 
sponges, etc., etc., and Sub-kingdom VII, Protozoa, 
protoplasms and the lowest forms of animal life. This 
volume is devoted to the illustration of the first of these 
sub-kingdoms, the Vertebrata, with its five classes, Mamma- 
lia, Aves, Reptilia, Batrachia and Pisces. 



THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

SUB-KINGDOM I— VERTEBRATA. 

CLASS I— MAMMALIA. 

The most perfect of all animals is man, for 

besides having a marvellous animal organism 
PRIMATES. , ° , . , - . B A 

he possesses reason, which so far transcenas 

the highest instincts of other animals, that it places him in 

a category by himself. 

sub order I. Next to man it is convenient to deal 

Man-shaped with man-shaped animals, {anthropoided) — 

Animals. those animals which most resemble him in 

external appearance and internal organism. This brings us 

to the order called Quadrumana or four-handed animals 

which include Lemurs and their allied forms, and manlike 

monkeys. Monkeys are divided into five families, one at 

least of which has to be further divided into sub-families to 

accommodate its variety. These families are: I The Apes; 

II The Sacred Monkeys; III The Cheek-pouched Monkeys; 

IV The Cebidae, with its several sub-families, and V The 

Marmosets. The first three of these families inhabit the old 

world, the last two belong to the new. 

The Ape The family of the Apes includes the Gorilla, 

Family, the Chimpanzee, the Orang-utan or mias, the 

Gibbons or long-armed Apes, and the Siamang; of these the 

Gorilla and the Chimpanzee belong to the West of Africa, 

the Orang-utan to Borneo, the Gibbons to Assam, the Malay 



4 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Cambodia and Hainan, 
and the Siamang to Java and Sumatra. 

The Gorilla. The gorilla is the largest of the ape family, 
and sometimes attains to the height of six feet. It is also 
the fiercest, if not the strongest, of man-shaped animals. It 
belongs to the genus Troglodytes of which the chimpanzee is 
the only other species, and it inhabits a somewhat limited 
range of Equatorial Africa, where it makes for itself nests 
of sticks and foliage, among the lower branches of trees, 
and lives upon berries, nuts and fruits. Though apparently 
a vegetarian the gorilla has enormous physical strength. His 
arms bear much the same proportion to the size of his body 
as those of man do relatively, but his lower limbs are shorter, 
and have no calves, the leg growing thicker from the knee 
downwards. The hands are broad, thick, and of great 
length of palm, and are remarkable for their strength ; the 
feet, broader than those of man, and more like hands, are 
very large and of great power. The gorilla uses his hands 
when walking or running, but as his arms are longer than 
those of other apes, and his legs shorter he stoops less than 
they do in moving from place to place. The gorilla herds 
in small companies, or rather families, one adult male being 
the husband and father of the band. The females are much 
smaller than the males. 

The Ancestors The g oriua > though rediscovered in recent 
of the years, was apparently known to the ancients. 

G-or a. Hanno, a Carthaginian admiral who flourished 
some five or six hundred years B.C., once sailed from 
Carthage with a fleet of sixty vessels and a company of 
30,000 persons, under instructions to proceed past the Pillars 
of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), with a view to planting 
colonies on the western coast of Africa. In the course of 
their travels they discovered several islands inhabited by 
wild creatures with hairy bodies. " There were, " says the 
ancient navigator, " many more females than males, all equally 



THE GORILLA. 5 

covered with hair on all parts of the body. The interpreters 
called them gorillas. On pursuing them, we could not suc- 
ceed in taking a single male, they all escaped with astonishing 
swiftness, and threw stones at us ; but we took three females, 
who defended themselves with so much violence, that we 
were obliged to kill them; but we brought their skins, 
stuffed with straw, to Carthage." Professor Owen remarks 
upon this that " though such creatures would suggest to 
Hanno and his crew no other idea of their nature than 
that of a kind of human being, yet the climbing faculty, 
the hairy body, and the skinning of the dead specimens 
strongly suggest that they were great apes. The fact that 
apes somewhat resembling the negroes, of human size and 
with hairy bodies, still exist on the west coast of Africa 
renders it highly probable that such were the creatures which 
Hanno saw, captured, and called 'gorullai'." 

A Gorilla Hunt. Paul du Chaillu, in his "Stories of the Gorilla 
Country, " gives a graphic description of his first sight of these 
"wild men of the woods." He was inspecting the ruins of 
a native village with a party of Africans, when they discovered 
footprints which the natives immediately recognised as those 
of the gorilla. " It was, " says he, " the first time I had 
seen the footprints of these wild men of the woods, and I 
cannot tell you how I felt. Here was I now, it seemed, on 
the point of meeting, face to face, that monster, of whose 
ferocity, strength and cunning, the natives had told me so 
much, and which no man before had hunted. By the 
tracks it was easy to know that there must have been 
several gorillas in company. We prepared at once to follow 
them. My men were remarkably silent, for they were 
going on an expedition of more than usual risk ; for the 
male gorilla is literally the king of the forest — the king of the 
equatorial regions. He and the crested lion of Mount Atlas 
are the two fiercest and strongest beasts of that continent. 
The lion of South Africa cannot be compared with either 



6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

for strength or courage. As we left the camp, the men and 
women left behind crowded together, with fear written on 
their faces. Miengai, Ngolai, and Makinda set out for the 
hunt in one party; myself and Yeava formed another. We 
determined to keep near each other, so that in case of 
trouble we might be at hand to help one another. For the 
rest silence and a sure aim were the only cautions to be 
given. I confess that I was never more excited in my 
life. For years I had heard of the terrible roar of the 
gorilla, of its vast strength, of its fierce courage when only 
wounded. I knew that we were about to pit ourselves 
against an animal which even the enormous leopards of the 
mountains fear, which the elephants let alone and whicl. 
perhaps has driven away the lion out of his territory; for the 
king of beasts, so numerous elsewhere in Africa, is not met with 
in the land of the gorilla. We descended a hill, crossed a 
stream on a fallen log, crept under the trees, and presently 
approached some huge boulders of granite. In the stream 
we had crossed we could see plainly that the animals had 
just crossed it, for the water was still disturbed. Along side 
of the granite blocks lay an immense dead tree, and about 
this the gorillas were likely to be. Our approach was very 
cautious. With guns cocked and ready we advanced through 
the dense wood, which cast a gloom even at mid-day over 
the whole scene. I looked at my men and saw that they 
were even more excited than myself. Slowly we pressed on 
through the dense bush, dreading almost to breathe for fear 
of alarming the beasts. Makinda was to go to the right of 
the rock, while I took the left. Unfortunately he and his 
party circled it at too great a distance. The watchful 
animals saw him. Suddenly I was startled by a strange, dis- 
cordant, half human cry, and beheld four young and half-grown 
gorillas running towards the deep forest. I was not ready. 
We fired but hit nothing. Then we rushed on in pursuit; 
but they knew the woods better than we. Once I caught 



THE GORILLA. 7 

a glimpse of one of the animals again; but an intervening 
tree spoiled my mark, and I did not fire. We pursued 
them till we were exhausted, but in vain. I protest I felt 
almost like a murderer when I saw the gorilla this first time. 
As they ran on their hind legs with their heads down, their 
bodies inclined forward, their whole appearance was that of 
hairy men running for their lives. Add to this their cry, so 
awful yet with something human in its discordance, and you 
will cease to wonder that the natives have the wildest 
superstitions about these 'wild men of the woods.'" 
Du Chaillu's In his " Explorations and Adventures in Equa- 
First Gorilla, torial Africa " du Chaillu gives an equally 
thrilling account of the capture of his first gorilla. He says : 
" We started early, and pushed through the most dense and 
impenetrable part of the forest; in hopes to find the very 
home of the beast I so much wished to shoot. Hour 
after hour we travelled and yet no signs of gorillas. Only 
the everlasting, little, chattering monkeys — and not many of 
these — and occasionally birds. Suddenly Miengai uttered a 
little cluck with his tongue which is the native way of 
showing that something is stirring and that a. sharp look- 
out is necessary. And presently I noticed, ahead of us 
seemingly, a noise as of some one breaking down branches 
or twigs of trees. This was a gorilla — I knew at once by 
the eager satisfied looks of the men. We walked with 
the greatest care making no noise at all. Suddenly, as we 
were yet creeping along, in a silence which made a heavy 
breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once 
filled with the tremendous barking roar of the gorilla. Then 
the underbrush swayed rapidly just ahead, and presently 
before us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone 
through the jungle on all fours; but when he saw our party 
he erected himself and looked us boldly in the face. He 
stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I 
think I shall never forget. Nearly six feet high (he proved 



8 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

four inches shorter), with immense body, huge chest, and 
great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring, large, deep gray 
eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me 
like some nightmare vision : thus stood before us this king of 
the African forest. He was not afraid of us. He stood 
there and beat his breast with his huge fists till it resounded 
like an immense bass-drum, which is the gorillas' mode of 
offering defiance; meantime giving vent to roar after roar. 
The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise 
heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, 
like an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which 
literally and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder 
along the sky. So deep is it that it seems to proceed 
less from the mouth and throat than from the deep chest 
and vast paunch. His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as 
we stood motionless on the defensive, and the crest of short 
hair which stands on his forehead began to twitch rapidly 
up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as he 
again sent forth his thunderous roar. He advanced a few 
steps — then stopped to utter that hideous roar again — 
advanced again, and finally stopped when at a distance of 
about six yards from us. And here, just as he began another 
of his roars, beating his breast with rage, we fired, and 
killed him. With a groan which had something terribly 
human in it, and yet was full of brutishness, he fell forward 
on his face. The body shook convulsively for a few minutes, 
the limbs moved about in a struggling way, and then all 
was quiet : death had done its work, and I had leisure to 
examine the huge body. It proved to be five feet eight 
inches high, and the muscular development of the arms and 
breast showed what immense strength it had possessed." A 
smaller gorilla, shot by M. du Chaillu on another occasion, 
measured five feet six inches in height, fifty inches round 
the chest, and his arms had a spread of seven feet two inches. 



THE GORILLA. 9 

A Young A young gorilla which some natives succeeded 
Gorilla. j n capturing for M. du Chaillu, and which he 
named " Fighting Joe, " forms the subject of one of his most 
interesting chapters. The young cub was caught by the adroit 
use of a cloth which one of the natives managed to throw 
over his head, but not until he had severely bitten one of 
his captors in the hand and taken a mouthful out of the 
leg of another. He was about three years old, three feet 
six inches in height and of great strength. A cage was 
made for him, from which he twice escaped, on each occasion 
being recaptured by the use of fishing nets. On his first 
escape he concealed himself under the bed in M. du Chaillu's 
house. " Running in," says the writer, "to get one of my guns, 
I was startled by an angry growl. It was master Joe; there 
was no mistake about it; I knew his growl too well. I 
cleared out faster than I came in. I instantly shut the 
windows and called in my people to guard the door. When 
Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and 
with his eyes glaring, and every sign of rage in his face and 
body, he got out from beneath the bed. He was about to 
make a rush at all of us. He was not afraid. A stampede of 
my men took place, I shut the door quickly (from outside) 
and left Joe master of the premises." While the men 
outside were devising means for his recapture, the young 
gorilla carefully inspected the furniture and M. du Chaillu 
became apprehensive for the safety of his clock, the ticking of 
which was likely to attract unwelcome attention. However, 
by means of a net dexterously thrown over him, he was 
secured once more and carried back to his cage, which in 
the meantime had been repaired, the full strength of four 
men t^ing required for the purpose. On his second escape 
he made for the woods and took refuge in a large clump of 
trees. "This we surrounded," says M. du Chaillu. "He 
did not ascend a tree, but stood defiantly at the border of 
the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded 



IO NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

him. As we moved up he began to yell, and made a dash 
upon a poor fellow who was in advance. The fellow ran 
and tumbled down in affright. By his fall he escaped the 
tender mercies of Joe's teeth; but he also detained the 
little rascal long enough for the nets to be thrown over him." 
But Joe was a child of nature and could not live with the 
chain of civilisation around his neck, and he died somewhat 
suddenly some ten days afterwards and finally found his 
way to the British museum. 

Gorilla According to du Chaillu, the natives entertain 

Superstitions, many superstitions about the gorilla, among the 
commonest of which is the belief that some gorillas are 
inhabited by human spirits. In his " Stories of the Gorilla 
Country " he gives an interesting illustration of this. " In the 
evening, " he says, "the men told stories about gorillas. 'I re- 
member, ' said one, ' my father told me he once went out to 
the forest, when just in his path he met a great gorilla. My 
father had his spear in his hand. When the gorilla saw 
the spear he began to roar; then my father was terrified 
and dropped the spear. When the gorilla saw that my 
father had dropped the spear he was pleased. He looked 
at him, and then left him and went into the thick forest. 
Then my father was glad and went on his way.' Here all 
shouted : ' Yes! so we must do when we meet the gorilla. Drop 
the spear; that appeases him.' Next Gambo spoke. ' Several 
dry seasons ago, a man suddenly disappeared from my 
village after an angry quarrel. Some time after an Ashira 
of that village was out in the forest. He met a very large 
gorilla. That gorilla was the man who had disappeared; 
he had turned into a gorilla. He jumped upon the poor 
Ashira and bit a piece out of his arm; then he let him go. 
Then the man came back with the bleeding arm. He told 
me this, I hope we shall not meet such gorillas.' Chorus: 
'No; we shall not meet such wicked gorillas.' "I myself," 
says du Chaillu, "afterwards met that man in the Ashira 



THE CHIMPANZEE. I I 

country. I saw his maimed arm and he repeated the same story." 
Then one of the men spoke up. 'If we kill a gorilla to-morrow, 
I should like to have a part of the brain for a fetich. 
Nothing makes a man so brave as to have a fetich of 
gorilla's brain. That gives a man a strong heart.' Chorus (of 
those who remained awake) 'Yes; that gives a man a strong 
heart.'" A fetich of the brain of the gorilla is said also to 
help its owner in love as well as war. 

The Chimpanzee. The chimpanzee is a near neighbour of 
the gorilla in Equatorial Africa though he appears to have 
a more extended range. He is found in Sierra Leone and 
in the country lying to the north of the river Congo, and 
according to native accounts is gregarious in his habits, 
travelling in formidable companies, who carry sticks and 
make effective use of them. They are said to reach 
maturity at nine or ten years of age and to attain a height 
of from four to five feet. Like the gorillas they have 
immensely powerful limbs, and have been known without 
apparent effort to break off branches of trees which a man 
would have been powerless to bend. 

The Docility The chimpanzee differs from the gorilla in 
an *f aci y his amenability to civilisation. The gorilla, 
Chimpanzee, however young, seems incapable of being tamed ; 
while the chimpanzee in its infancy and youth at least has 
often been domesticated, though like most other apes, as it 
approaches maturity, it needs to be kept under strong control. 
Captain Brown in his " Habits and Characteristics of Animals 
and Birds" gives the following illustration of the docility 
and sagacity of the chimpanzee. He says: "M. de Grandpre 
saw, on board of a vessel, a female chimpanzee, which 
exhibited wonderful proofs of intelligence. She had learnt 
to hectt the oven ; she took great care not to let any of the 
coals fall out, which might have done mischief in the ship; 
and she was very accurate in observing when the oven was 
heated to the proper degree, of which she immediately 



12 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

apprized the baker, who, relying with perfect confidence 
upon her information, carried his dough to the oven as soon 
as the chimpanzee came to fetch him. This animal performed 
all the business of a sailor, spliced ropes, handled the sails, 
and assisted at unfurling them ; and she was, in fact considered 
by the sailors as one of themselves. The vessel was bound 
for America; but the poor animal did not live to see that 
country, having fallen a victim to the brutality of the first 
mate, who inflicted very cruel chastisement upon her, which 
she had not deserved. She endured it with the greatest 
patience, only holding out her hands in a suppliant attitude, 
in order to break the force of the blows she received. But 
from that moment she steadily refused to take any food, 
and died on the fifth day from grief and hunger. She was 
lamented by every person on board, not insensible to the 
feelings of humanity, who knew the circumstances of her 
fate." 

The The orang-utan is one of the largest of the 

Orang-utan. a p e species and until the discovery of the 
gorilla was supposed to be the largest. It is said sometimes 
to attain to the height of six feet, and some travellers' tales 
credit it with even greater height. The orang is possessed 
of great strength but is of a docile disposition when brought 
under civilisation, and even in a wild state is often quiet 
and peaceable except when attacked. It inhabits country 
that is low, level, and swampy, and that is at the same 
time covered with lofty virgin forests. It belongs to the 
genus Simla of which it is the single species. 

The Habits The following account of the orang is given 
of the by Mr. Brooke of Sarawak. " On the habits of 

Orang-utan. ^ oran g S? as f ar as \ have been able to observe 

them, I may remark that they are as dull and as slothful 
as can well be conceived, and on no occasion, when 
pursuing them, did they move so fast as to preclude my 
keeping pace with them easily through a moderately clear 



THE ORANG-UTAN. 1 3 

forest; and even when obstructions below (such as wading 
up to the neck) allowed them to get away some distance, 
they were sure to stop and allow us to come up. I never 
observed the slightest attempt at defence; and the wood, 
which sometimes rattled about our ears, was broken by 
their weight, and not thrown, as some persons represent. 
If pushed to extremity, however, the pappan could not be 
otherwise than formidable; and one unfortunate man, who 
with a party was trying to catch one alive, lost two of his 
fingers, besides being severely bitten on the face, whilst the 
animal finally beat off his pursuers and escaped. When 
hunters wish to catch an adult, they cut down a circle of 
trees round the one on which he is seated, and then fell 
that also, and close before he can recover himself, and 
endeavour to bind him. The rude hut which they are 
stated to build in the trees would be more properly called 
a seat, or nest, for it has no roof or cover of any sort. The 
facility with which they form this seat is curious ; and I had 
an opportunity ot seeing a wounded female weave the 
branches together, and seat herself in a minute. She after- 
wards received our fire without moving, and expiied in her 
lofty abode, whence it cost us much trouble to dislodge her. 
The adult male I killed was seated lazily on a tree; and 
when approached only took the trouble to interpose the 
trunk between us, peeping at me and dodging as I dodged. 
I hit him on the wrist, and he was afterwards despatched." 
The Walk ^ n locomotion the orang disdains the earth 
of the and perambulates the vernal terraces of the 
Orang-utan. foregt tree ^ «j t ig a s i ngu i ar sight," says Mr. 

Wallace, " to watch a mias (orang-utan) making his way 
leisurely through a forest. He walks deliberately along some 
of the larger branches in the semi-erect attitude which the 
great length of his arms and the shortness of his legs cause 
him naturally to assume, and seems always to choose those 
branches which intermingle with an adjoining tree, on 



14 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

approaching which he stretches out his long arms, and 
seizing the opposing boughs, grasps them together with 
both hands, seems to try their strength, and then deliber- 
ately swings himself across to the next branch on which he 
walks along as before. He never jumps or springs, or even 
appears to hurry himself, and yet manages to get along 
almost as quickly as a person can run through the forest 
beneath." 

The strength "The Dyaks," says Mr. Wallace, "all declare 
of the that the mias is never attacked by any animal in 

Orang-utan. t k e foreg^ w ith two rare exceptions; and the 
accounts received of these are so curious that I give them 
nearly in the words of my informants, old Dyak Chiefs, who 
had lived all their lives in the places where the animal is most 
abundant. The first of whom I enquired said, ' No animal is 
strong enough to hurt the mias, and the only creature he ever 
fights with is the crocodile. When there is no fruit in the 
jungle he goes to seek food on the banks of the river where 
there are plenty of young shoots that he likes, and fruits that 
grow close to the water. Then the crocodile sometimes tries 
to seize him, but the mias gets upon him and beats him with 
his hands and feet, and tears and kills him.' He added that he 
had once seen such a fight and that he believed that the mias 
is always the victor. My next informant was Orang Kayo 
or chief of the Balow Dyaks on the Simunjou River. He 
said the mias has no enemies, no animals dare attack it 
but the crocodile and the python. He always kills the 
crocodile by main strength, standing upon it, and pulling open 
its jaws and ripping up its throat. If a python attacks a 
mias he seizes it with his hands and then bites it, and 
soon kills it. The mias is very strong; there is no animal 
in the jungle so strong as he." 

The Docility Buffon thus describes an orang-utan that he 

of the saw : " His aspect was melancholy, his de- 

rang-u an. p 0rtmen t grave, his movements regular, and 



THE ORANG-UTAN. I 5 

his disposition gentle. Unlike the baboon or the monkey, 
who are fond of mischief, and only obedient through fear, 
a look kept him in awe; while the other animals could 
not be brought to obey without blows. He would present 
his hand to conduct the people who came to visit him, and 
walk as gravely along with them as if he had formed a part 
of the company. I have seen him sit down at table, when 
he would unfold his towel, wipe his lips, use a spoon or a 
fork to carry his victuals to his mouth, pour his liquor into 
a glass, and make it touch that of a person who drank along 
with him. When invited to take tea, he would bring a cup 
and saucer, place them on the table, put in sugar, pour out the 
tea, and allow it to cool before he drank it. All this I have seen 
him perform without any other instigation than the signs or the 
command of his master, and often even of his own accord." 

The Orang-utan's M. de la Bosse thus describes two young 
Intelligence, orang-utans, male and female. "We had 
these animals with us on shipboard. They ate at the same 
table with us. When they wanted anything, they, by 
certain signs, acquainted the cabin boy with their wishes; 
and if he did not bring it, they sometimes flew into a rage 
at him, bit him in the arm, and not unfrequently threw him 
down. The male fell sick during the voyage, and submitted 
to be treated like a human patient. The disease being of 
an inflammatory nature, the surgeon bled him twice in the 
right arm; and when he afterwards felt himself indisposed, 
he used to hold out his arm to be bled, because he recol- 
lected that he found himself benefited by that operation on 
a former occasion." 

The Orang-utan's Dr. Tyson in describing one of the earliest 
Affection. specimens of the orang brought to London, says 
that it^conceived a great affection for those with whom travel 
had made it familiar, frequently embracing them with the 
greatest tenderness. A female orang belonging to a Dutch 
menagerie showed the greatest affection for her attendants, 



1 6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

giving unmistakable signs of her delight in their company 
and distress in their absence. She would often take the 
hay from her bed and spread it at her side and with anxious 
and obvious signs invite her keeper to sit beside her. M. 
Palavicini credited a pair of orangs which he had in his 
possession in 1759 with the still more remarkable quality 
in animals of bashfulness. It is said that the female would 
shrink from the too persistent gaze of a spectator, and throw 
herself into the arms of the male, hiding her face in his 
bosom. 

The Maternal In his "Marvels and Mysteries of Instinct," 
Instinct. ]y[ r# Garrett gives the following instance of 
maternal affection. "A gentleman was out with a party of 
men in Sumatra, when in some trees removed from a dense 
forest a female orang-utan, with a young one in its arms, 
was discovered, and the pursuit commenced. In the ardour 
of the moment, and excited by the hope of possessing an 
animal so rare, the gentleman forgot everything but the prize 
before him, and urged on his men by the promise of a 
reward, should their exertions be successful. Thus stimulated 
they followed up the chase ; the animal, encumbered by her 
young one, making prodigious efforts to gain the dense and 
intricate recesses of the wood, springing from tree to tree, 
and endeavouring by every means to elude her pursuers. 
Several shots were fired, and at length one took fatal effect, 
the ball penetrating the right side of the chest. Feeling 
herself mortally wounded, and with the blood gushing from 
her mouth, she from that moment took no care of herself, 
but with a mother's feelings summoned up all her dying 
energies to save her young one. She threw it onwards over 
the tops of the trees, and from one branch to another, 
taking the most desperate leaps after it herself, and again 
facilitating its progress until, the intricacy of the forest being 
nearly gained, its chances of success were sure. All this time 
the blood was flowing : but her efforts had been unabated, 



THE GIBBONS. 1 7 

and it was only when her young one was on the point of 
attaining to a pla^e of safety that she rested on one of the 
topmost branches of a gigantic tree. True to her ruling 
passion, even in death, she turned for a moment to gaze 
after her young one, reeled, and fell head foremost to the 
ground. The sight was so touching that it called forth the 
sympathy of the whole party. The eagerness of the chase 
subsided; and so deep an impression did the maternal 
tenderness and unexpected self-devotion of the poor orang 
make on the gentleman alluded to, whose heart was indeed 
formed in 'nature's gentlest mould,' that he expressed the 
utmost remorse and pity, declaring that he would not go 
through the same scene again for all the world ; nor did the 
tragical death of the animal cease to haunt his mind for 
many weeks, and he never afterwards recurred to it but with 
feelings of emotion. The preserved skin is now in the 
Museum of the Zoological Society." 

Gibbons or Long The gibbons belong to the genus Hylobates, 
Armed Apes. f which there are several species. They are 
characterised by the ability to walk almost erect, hence the 
name Hylobates. They live in the tops of trees, in large 
companies and possess marvellous powers of locomotion, 
swinging themselves from tree to tree with such rapidity as 
to baffle all pursuit. When on the ground they balance 
themselves in walking by holding their hands above their 
•heads. The adult gibbon is about three feet in height 
and has a reach of arms of about six feet. The gibbon is 
tractable and capable of strong affection towards those who 
show it kindness. One of the Hoolock species petted by 
Dr. Burrough, became companionable and would sit at his 
master's breakfast-table, eat eggs and chicken, and drink tea 
and cdftee with great propriety. Fruit was his favourite 
food, but insects were especially palatable to him and he 
was an expert in catching flies. The siamang differs from 
the other species of long-armed apes in the formation of its 



1 8 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

feet and in several other characteristics. It is, however, 
similar to the Hoolock in its amenity to kindness and its 
affection for its master, when brought under the influence of 
kindly treatment. Th e gibbons have great strength in their lower 
limbs, whereby they are enabled to leap surprising distances. 
M. Duvaneel said he once saw one of these animals clear 
a space of forty feet, from the branch of a tree. Mr. George 
Bennet, in his " Wanderings," describes the action of a 
siamang that belonged to him, which having managed to free 
himself of his tether, proceeded to embrace the legs of 
the Malays whom he came across, until he discovered his 
former master, whereupon he climbed into the Malay's arms 
and hugged him with the tenderest affection. 

Monkeys. Monkeys differ from the apes we have dealt with in 
the important characteristic, among others, of possessing tails. 
These vary in length from inches to feet, in some cases being 
considerably longer than the body and in others little more 
than stumps. They vary also in form, some being completely 
covered with hair, and others only partially so; some 
apparently useful only as ornaments, others being prehensile, 
that is capable of grasp, and giving their owners almost 
the advantage of a .fifth limb. 
The Sacred The Sacred Monkeys (Semnopithecidce) in- 
Monkeys. c lude two genera and a large number of species. 
Among these are the species which bear the name of 
Hanuman, a Hindoo divinity, and are worshipped in his 
honour. The protection these monkeys receive on account 
of the superstitions prevalent concerning them, leads to their 
large increase in numbers and to many inconveniences 
arising therefrom. It is said that if a traveller should be 
unfortunate enough to offend one of these animals he is 
likely enough to be followed by the whole party howling in 
a most hideous and discordant manner, and pelting him 
with any missiles upon which they can lay their hands. 
There are eighteen species of the Semnopithecus, all of which 



MONKEYS. ig 

are found in the East. Of these the Entellus is one of the 
best known species. It is very susceptible to cold, and 
cannot live long in Europe. 

The Long-nosed The Long-nosed Monkey (Se?nnopithecus 
Monkey. Larvatus) belongs to this family and is 

distinguished, as its name implies, by the length of its 
proboscis. This animal is described by Wallace as about 
the size of a child of three years of age, while possessing a 
nose considerably longer than that of any human adult. 
From the head to the tip of the tail the proboscis monkey 
measures about four feet and a half. It is sometimes called 
the Kahau from its cry which resembles the sound of that 
word. It is said to hold its nose when leaping to protect 
it from being injured by the branches of trees. The second 
genus of this family, of which there are numerous species, 
belongs to Africa. 

Cheek-pouched The Cheek-pouched Monkeys form the 
Monkeys. third family of the quadrumana. They include 
seven genera, and sixty or seventy species, of which five 
genera belong to Africa and two to Asia and to the Malay 
Islands. Among the better known of these species is the 
Talapoin of West Africa ; the Diana monkey and the Mona 
(Africa); the little White-nosed monkey (Guinea); the Grivet 
(Nubia and Abyssinia); the Green monkey (Cape de Verds); 
the Patas (Senegal) ; the Malbrouck monkey ; and the Vervet 
monkey (South Africa). The Green monkey and the Vervet 
monkey are those most commonly seen in England. One of 
the best known members of this family is the Baboon. 

The Baboon. The baboon is found in many parts of Africa, 
and one of its species in Arabia. It is of the genus 
cynocephalus, and some of its species attain to considerable 
size; tke head and face of one species resembling those 
of a dog, it is sometimes called the dog-faced baboon. 
The baboon herds in large numbers, and is said to make 
apparently organized attacks upon villages during the 



20 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

absence of the peasants in harvest time, placing sentinels 
on the look out, to apprise them of danger, while they visit 
the houses and take possession of all the food they can find. 
They are cunning and powerful, and formidable in combat, 
but, greedy in habit, they eat to excess, and when gorged to 
satiety fall an easy prey to their enemies. In their wild state 
they feed on berries and bulbous roots, but when proximity 
to civilisation gives them wider opportunity, they show their 
appreciation of a more varied menu. Among the more 
familiar species of the baboon are the Chackma, the Drill, 
the Mandrill, the Anubis, the Babouin, and the Sphinx, all of 
which belong to the West of Africa. 

The The Arabian baboon is an animal with a 

Arabian history. It was worshipped by the Egyptians, 

Baboon. w ^ embalmed its body after death and set 
apart portions of their cemeteries for its use. Sacred to 
Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, the God of letters, the baboon 
sometimes represents that deity in Egyptian sculptures, where 
it is usually figured in a sitting posture, the attitude in 
which its body was generally embalmed. The baboon was 
also held as emblematic of the Moon, and honoured sym- 
bolically in other connections. It is commonly represented 
in judgment scenes of the dead with a pair of scales in 
front of it, Thoth being supposed to exercise important 
duties in the final judgment of men. The baboon was 
held especially sacred at Hermopolis. According to Sir 
J. G. Wilkinson the Egyptians trained baboons to useful 
offices, making them torch-bearers at their feasts and festivals. 
The Like others of the monkey tribes the baboon 

Imitative s h ows an extraordinary faculty for imitation, 
of the Captain Browne in his " Characteristics of Ani- 

Baboon. mals " says : " The following circumstance is truly 
characteristic of the imitative powers of the baboon: — 
The army of Alexander the Great marched in complete battle- 
array into a country inhabited by great numbers of baboons, 



THE BABOON. 2 1 

and encamped there for the night. The next morning, when 
the army was about to proceed on its march, the soldiers 
saw, at some distance, an enormous number of baboons, 
drawn up in rank and file, like a small army, with such 
regularity, that the Macedonians, who could have no idea 
of such a manoeuvre, imagined at first that it was the enemy 
drawn up to receive them." 

Th The chackma lives among the mountains of 

Chackma the Cape of Good Hope, where he attains about 
Baboon, foe size of an English mastiff and even greater 
strength. He descends to the plains on foraging expeditions, 
and, when not attacked, will usually make off on the approach 
of danger, but if aroused to anger can both show and use 
his teeth, and is far superior to the average English boy in 
throwing stones. 

The Baboon's Le Vaillant gives an interesting account of 
Utility. a chackma baboon which accompanied him 
through South Africa, and which bore the name of Kees. 
He says : " I made him my taster. Whenever we found fruits 
or roots, with which my Hottentots were unacquainted, we 
did not touch them till Kees had tasted them. If he threw 
them away, we concluded that they were either of a dis- 
agreeable flavour, or of a pernicious quality, and left them 
untasted. The monkey possesses a peculiar property, wherein 
he differs greatly from other animals, and resembles man, — 
namely, that he is by nature equally gluttonous and inquisitive. 
Without necessity, and without appetite, he tastes every 
thing that falls in his way, or that is given to him. But 
Kees had a still more valuable quality, - -he was an excellent 
sentinel; for, whether by day or night, he immediately sprang 
up o* the slightest appearance of danger. By his cry, and 
the symptoms of fear which he exhibited, we were always 
apprized of the approach of an enemy, even though the dogs 
perceived nothing of it. The latter, at length, learned to rely 
upon him with such confidence, that they slept on in per- 



2 2 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

feet tranquillity. I often took Kees with me when I went 
hunting; and when he saw me preparing for sport, he 
exhibited the most lively demonstrations of joy. On the way, 
he would climb into the trees to look for gum, of which he 
was very fond. Sometimes he discovered to me honey, 
deposited in the clefts of rocks, or hollow trees. But, if he 
happened to have met with neither honey nor gum, and 
his appetite had become sharp by his running about, I always 
witnessed a very ludicrous scene. In those cases, he looked 
for roots, which he ate with great greediness, especially a 
particular kind, which, to his cost, I also found to be very 
well tasted and refreshing, and therefore insisted upon sharing 
with him. In order to draw these roots out of the ground, 
he employed a very ingenious method, which afforded me 
much amusement. He laid hold of the herbage with his 
teeth, stemmed his fore feet against the ground, and drew 
back his head, which gradually pulled out the root. But if 
this expedient, for which he employed his whole strength, 
did not succeed, he laid hold of the leaves as before, as 
close to the ground as possible, and then threw himself 
heels over head, which gave such a concussion to the root, 
that it never failed to come out. 
The Tame "Serpents excepted, there were no animals of 
Baboon, whom Kees stood in such great dread as of his 
own species, — perhaps owing to a consciousness of loss of 
natural capacity. Sometimes he heard the cry of other 
apes among the mountains, and, terrified as he was, he 
yet answered them. But, if they approached nearer, and 
he saw any of them, he fled, with a hideous cry, crept 
between our legs, and trembled over his whole body. It was 
very difficult to compose him, and it required some time 
before he recovered from his fright. 

The Cunning " ^ike a ^ otner animals, Kees was addicted to 

of the stealing. He understood admirably well how 

Baboon. to i oose the strings of a basket, in order to take 



THE BABOON. 23 

victuals out of it, especially milk, of which he was very fond. 
My people chastised him for these thefts ; but that did not 
make him amend his conduct. I myself sometimes whipped 
him ; but then he ran away, and did not return again to the 
tent until it grew dark. Once, as I was about to dine, and 
had put the beans, which I had boiled for myself, upon a 
plate, I heard the voice of a bird with which I was not 
acquainted. I left my dinner standing, seized my gun, and 
ran out of the tent. After the space of about a quarter of 
an hour I returned, with the bird in my hand, but, to my 
astonishment, found not a single bean upon the plate. Kees 
had stolen them all, and taken himself out of the way. 
When he had committed any trespass of this kind, he used 
always, about the time when I drank tea, to return quietly, 
and seat himself in his usual place, with every appearance 
of innocence, as if nothing had happened ; but this evening 
he did not let himself be seen. And, on the following day, 
also, he was not seen by any of us ; and, in consequence, 
I began to grow seriously uneasy about him, and apprehen- 
sive that he might be lost for ever. But, on the third day, 
one of my people, who had been to fetch water, informed 
me that he had seen Kees in the neighbourhood, but that, 
as soon as the animal espied him, he had concealed himself 
again. I immediately went out and beat the whole neigh- 
bourhood with my dogs. All at once, I heard a cry, like 
that which Kees used to make, when I returned from my 
shooting, and had not taken him with me. I looked about, 
and at length espied him, endeavouring to hide himself 
behind the large branches of a tree. I now called to him 
in a friendly tone of voice, and made motions to him to come . 
down to me. But he could not trust me, and I was obliged 
to climb up the tree to fetch him. He did not attempt to fly, 
and we returned together to my quarters ; here he expected 
to receive his punishment ; but I did nothing, as it would 
have been of no use. 



24 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Loyalty " ^ n on i cer > wishing to put the fidelity of my 
of the baboon to the test, pretended to strike me. At 
Baboon. ^ s ^ g ew j n a v i i en t ra ge, and, from that time, 
could never endure the sight of the officer. If he only saw 
him at a distance he began to cry, and make all kinds of 
grimaces, which evidently showed that he wished to revenge 
the insult that had been done to me; he ground his teeth; 
and endeavoured, with all his might, to fly at his face, but 
that was out of his power, as he was chained down. The 
offender several times endeavoured, in vain, to conciliate 
him, by offering him dainties, but he remained long im- 
placable. 

The " When any eatables were pilfered, at my quar- 

n 6 f th* 106 ters ' ^ e ^ au ^ was a ^ wa y s ^ a ^ u P° n Kees; and rarely 
Baboon, was the accusation unfounded. For a time the 
eggs, which a hen laid me, were constantly stolen, and 
I wished to ascertain whether I had to attribute this loss also 
to him. For this purpose I went one morning to watch him, 
and waited till the hen announced, by her cackling, that she 
had laid an egg. Kees was sitting upon my vehicle ; but, 
the moment he heard the hen's voice, he leapt down, and 
was running to fetch the egg. When he saw me, he suddenly 
stopped, and affected a careless posture, swaying himself 
backwards upon his hind legs, and assuming a very innocent 
look ; in short, he employed all his art to deceive me with 
respect to his design. His hypocritical manoeuvres only con- 
firmed my suspicions, and, in order, in my turn, to deceive 
him, I pretended not to attend to him, and turned my back 
to the bush where the hen was cackling, upon which he 
immediately sprang to the place. I ran after him, and came 
up to him at the moment when he had broken the egg and 
was swallowing it. Having caught the thief in the fact, I 
gave him a good beating upon the spot, but this severe 
chastisement did not prevent his soon stealing fresh-laid eggs 
again. As I was convinced that I should never be able to 



THE BABOON. 25 

break Kees off his natural vices, and that, unless I chained 
him up every morning, I should never get an egg, I endea- 
voured to accomplish my purpose in another manner ; I 
tiained one of my dogs, as soon as the hen cackled, to run 
t:- the nest, and bring me the egg, without breaking it. In 
a few days, the dog had learned his lesson ; but Kees, as 
soon as he. heard the hen cackle, ran with him to the nest. 
A contest now took place between them, who should have 
the egg ; often the dog was foiled, although he was the 
stronger of the two. If he gained the victory, he ran joyfully 
to me with the egg, and put it into my hand. Kees, never- 
theless, followed him, and did not cease to grumble and make 
threatening grimaces at him, till he saw me take the egg, — 
as if he was comforted for the loss of his booty by his 
adversary's not retaining it for himself. If Kees had got hold 
of the egg, he endeavoured to run with it to a tree, where, 
having devoured it, he threw down the shells upon his 
adversary, as if to make game of him. Kees was always the 
first awake in the morning, and, when it was the proper time, 
he awoke the dogs, who were accustomed to his voice, and, 
in general, obeyed, without hesitation, the slightest motions 
by which he communicated his orders to them, immediately 
taking their posts about the tent and carriage, as he directed 
them." 
The Bonnet The bonnet monkey is of the genus macacus, 

Monkey. anc [ j s to be found in many parts of India. It 
is characterized by a bonnet, or cap of hair, which radiates 
from the centre of the crown. It is known as the Macacus 
Radiatus. Other species of the genus macacus are the 
Rhesus monkey, the Wajideroo, the Barbary Ape or Magot, 
and* the Macaque. 

Indian Monkeys. Many stories are told of the audacity of 
the Indian monkeys in which those of the genus macacus 
cc^me in for more than honourable mention. Whether in 
their native haunts, or in European menageries, they are an 



2b NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

endless source of amusement and not unfrequently one of 
annoyance. In their free state, they tax the ingenuity of 
native and European alike by their mischievous habits and 
thievish propensities. They climb upon the tops of the 
Bazaars and the slightest relapse from vigilance on the part of 
the shopkeepers is sure to be followed by the loss or spoliation 
of their wares. A common defence against these unwelcome 
intruders is to cover the roofs with a certain prickly shrub, 
the thorns of which command respect even from monkeys. 
Mrs. Bowdich says : " In some places they are even fed, 
encouraged, and allowed to live on the roofs of houses ; " 
but this would be where the goods of the householder were 
beyond their reach. " If a man wishes to revenge himself 
for any injury committed upon him," says Mrs. Bowdich, 
"he has only to sprinkle some rice or corn upon the top 
of his enemy's house or granary just before the rain sets in, 
and the monkeys will assemble upon it, eat all they can 
find outside, and then pull off the tiles to get at that which 
has fallen through the crevices. This, of course, gives 
access to the torrents which fall in such countries, and 
house, furniture and stores are all ruined." Quoting from 
another writer, Mrs. Bowdich gives an amusing description 
of the way in which one of these monkeys watched his 
opportunity for making his descent upon a sweet-stuff shop. 
Taking up a position opposite the shop, " he pretended to be 
asleep, but every now and then softly raised his head to 
look at the tempting piles and the owner of them, who sat 
smoking his pipe without symptoms even of a doze. In 
half an hour the monkey got up, as if he were just awake, 
yawned, stretched himself, and took another position a few 
yards off, where he pretended to play with his tail, occa- 
sionally looking over his shoulder at the coveted delicacies. 
At length the shopman gave signs of activity, and the 
monkey was on the alert; the man went to his back room, 
the monkey cleared the street at one bound, and in an 



THE INDIAN MONKEYS. 27 

instant stuffed his pouches full of the delicious morsels. He 
had, however, overlooked some hornets, which were regaling 
themselves at the same time. They resented his disturbance, 
and the tormented monkey, in his hurry to escape, came upon 
a thorn-covered roof, where he lay stung, torn, and bleeding. 
He spurted the stolen bonbons from his pouches and barked 
hoarsely looking the picture of misery. The noise of the 
tiles which he had dislodged in his retreat brought out the 
inhabitants, and among them the vendor of the sweets, with 
his turban unwound, and streaming two yards behind him. 
All joined in laughing at the wretched monkey; but their 
religious reverence for him induced them to go to his 
assistance: they picked out his thorns and he limped away 
to the w r oods quite crestfallen." 
The Monkey The writer, from whom Mrs. Bowdich quoted 

Outdone, the above story, gives a graphic account of the 
success of a stratagem he employed to rid himself of the 
unwelcome visits of his monkey friends. " Although," says 
he, "a good deal shyer of me than they were of the natives, 
I found no difficulty in getting within a few yards of them ; 
and when I lay still among the brushwood they gambolled 
round me with as much freedom as if I had been one of 
themselves. This happy understanding, however, did not 
last long, and we soon began to urge war upon each other. 
The casus belli was a field of sugar-cane which I had 
planted on the newly cleared jungle. 

" Every beast of the field seemed leagued against this 
devoted patch of sugar-cane. The wild elephants came and 
browzed in it; the jungle hogs rooted it up, and munched 
it at their leisure ; the jackals gnawed the stalks into squash ; 
and the wild deer ate the tops of the young plants. Against 
all these marauders there was an obvious remedy, — to build 
a stout fence round the cane-field. This was done accord- 
ingly; and a deep trench dug outside, that even the wild 
elephant did not deem it prudent to cross. The wild hogs 



28 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

came and inspected the trench and the palisades beyond. 
A bristly old tusker was observed taking a survey of the 
defences; but, after mature deliberation, he gave two short 
grunts, the porcine (language), I imagined, for 'No go/ and 
took himself off at a round trot, to pay a visit to my neigh- 
bour Ram Chunder, and inquire how his little plot of sweet 
yams was coming on. The jackals sniffed at every crevice, 
and determined to wait a bit ; but the monkeys laughed the 
whole entrenchment to scorn. Day after day was I doomed 
to behold my canes devoured as fast as they ripened, by 
troops of jubilant monkeys. It was of no use attempting to 
drive them away. When disturbed, they merely retreated 
to the nearest tree, dragging whole stalks of sugar-cane along 
with them, and then spurted the chewed fragments in my 
face, as I looked up at them. This was adding insult to 
injury; and I positively began to grow bloodthirsty at the 
idea of being outwitted by monkeys. The case between us 
might have been stated in this way. 'I have, at much 
trouble and expense, cleared and cultivated this jungle land,' 
said I. 'More fool you,' said the monkeys. 'I have 
planted and watched over these sugar-canes.' 'Watched! 
Ah, ah! so have we, for the matter of that.' 'But surely 
I have a right to reap what I sowed.' 'Don't see it,' said 
the monkeys; 'the jungle, by rights prescriptive and indefeas- 
ible, is ours, and has been so ever since the days of Ram 
Hanuman of the long tail. If you cultivate the jungle with- 
out our consent, you must look to the consequences. If you 
don't like our customs, you may get about your business. 
We don't want you.' I kept brooding over this mortifying 
view of the matter, until one morning I hatched revenge in 
a practicable shape. A tree, with about a score of monkeys 
on it, was cut down, and half a dozen of the youngest were 
caught as they attempted to escape. A large pot of ghow 
(treacle) was then mixed with as much tarter emetic as could 
be spared from the medicine chest, and the young hopefuls, 



THE INDIAN MONKEYS. 2 0, 

after being carefully painted over with the compound, were 
allowed to return to their distressed relatives, who, as soon 
as they arrived, gathered round them and commenced licking 
them with the greatest assiduity. The results I had anticipated 
were not long in making their appearance. A more melan- 
choly sight it was impossible to behold; but so efficacious 
was this treatment, that for more than two years I hardly 
ever saw a monkey in the neighbourhood." 
The Monkey Tavernier was once travelling from Agra to 
Aroused. Surat with the English president, when passing 
within a few miles of Amenabad through a forest of mangoes, 
they experienced the danger of provoking such companies. He 
says. "We saw a vast number of very large apes, male and 
female, many of the latter having their young in their arms. We 
were each of us in our coaches ; and the English president 
stopped his to tell me that he had a very fine new gun; and 
knowing that I was a good marksman, desired me to try it, 
by shooting one of the apes. One of my servants, who was 
a native of the country, made a sign to me not to do it ; 
and I did all that was in my power to dissuade the gentle- 
man from his design, but to no purpose; for he immediately 
levelled his piece, and shot a she ape, who fell through the 
branches of the tree on which she was sitting, her young ones 
tumbling at the same time out of her arms on the ground. 
We presently saw that happen which my servant apprehended; 
for all the apes, to the number of sixty, came immediately 
down from the trees, and attacked the president's coach with 
such fury that they must infallibly have destroyed him if 
all who were present had not flown to his relief, and by 
drawing up the windows, and posting all the servants about 
the coach, protected him from their resentment." That 
diplomacy is better than war in dealing with bands of mon- 
keys is shown by comparing the results of the foregoing 
experiences. 



30 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Monkeys' That monkeys are capable of very poignant 
Affection, feeling is shown by the following pathetic story. 
Mr. Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs," says: — "On a shoot- 
ing party one of my friends killed a female monkey, and 
carried it to his tent, which was soon surrounded by forty or 
fifty of the tribe, who made a great noise, and in a menacing 
posture advanced towards it. Ou presenting his fowling-piece 
they retreated, but one stood his ground, chattering and 
menacing in a furious manner. He at length came close to 
the tent door, and finding that his threatenings were of no 
avail, began a lamentable moaning, and by every expression 
of grief and supplication seemed to beg the body of the 
deceased. On this it was given to him. He took it up in 
his arms, eagerly pressed it to his bosom, and carried it off 
in a sort of triumph to his expecting companions. The artless 
behaviour of this poor animal wrought so powerfully on the 
sportsmen that they resolved never more to level a gun at 
one of the monkey tribe." 
American To visit the family of the Cebidae we have to 
Monkeys, cross the Atlantic Ocean, and here we find 
characteristics with which the monkeys of the East are un- 
familiar, while we miss others which are common to the 
monkeys of the old world. In passing from East to West 
we lose the cheek-pouch characteristic and we find that of 
the prehensile tail. There are more than eighty species in 
the family of the Cebidae, divided into ten genera and grouped 
in four sub-families. The first of the sub-families includes 
the monkeys with prehensile tails. 

The Capuchin The capuchins belong to the genus Cebus 

Monkey, which includes the majority of American monkeys. 

There are a number of species of which the Brown Capuchin 

(Brazil), the Wheeper Capuchin (Brazil), and the White-throated 

Capuchin (Central America) are the best known. 

The Spider The Spider Monkey is of the genus Ateles and 

Monkeys. i s one f the best known of the Cebidae family. 



THE AMERICAN MONKEYS. 3 I 

In it the prehensile tail reaches its perfection. It is a 
remarkably sensitive organ, answering the purpose, as the Rev. 
J. G. Wood puts it, of "a fifth hand," being capable of use 
"for any purpose to which the hand could be applied," and 
for hooking out objects from places "where a hand could 
not be inserted." According to Mr. Wood they wrap their 
tails about them to protect themselves from cold, to which 
they are very sensitive, and hold on by them to the branches 
of trees with such tenacity that they remain suspended after 
death. The prehensile part of the tail is naked and of 
extreme sensibility. The tail is also used to preserve balance 
when walking erect, for which purpose it is thrown up and 
curled over. The appearance of these monkeys, as they leap 
from branch to branch in their native woods, swinging by 
their tails, and often hanging on to those of each other, until 
a living bridge is formed from tree to tree, is exceedingly 
picturesque. 

The Howling The Howling Monkeys form the single genus 
Monkeys. f the second sub-family of the Cebidae— the 
genus Mycetes. There are a number of species, popularly 
known as the "Golden Howler," the "Black Howler," &c. &c. 
They are chiefly characteristic for the attribute to which they 
owe their name. The howl is a loud mournful cry which 
can be heard at a great distance, and is said by Wallace to 
proceed from the leader of the band who howls for the whole 
company. These animals are larger and more clumsy than 
the spider monkeys and therefore less agile; they have powerful, 
prehensile tails. The " Howler "is much prized by the Indians 
as an article of food. 

The Bearded The third sub-family of the Cebidae includes 
Saki. some dozen species which inhabit the forests of 
Equatorial America. They are of the genus Pithecia, and 
some species have broad beards and bushy tails. The head 
of the Bearded Saki (Pithecia Sat anas) has a singularly 
human appearance. 



32 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The The fourth sub-family of the Cebidse includes 

Douroucouli. several genera and a number of species, of these 
the Douroucouli (Nyctipithecus felinus) is one of the most 
interesting. It is a small monkey, measuring only thirteen 
inches, apart from its tail, which is eighteen inches long: 
It is catlike in some of its habits, sleeping during the day, 
and prowling about at night in search of food, which it 
finds in fruits, insects and small birds. It has a catlike 
mew, though it often makes a louder cry more resembling 
the noise of the jaguar. 

The Marmosets. The fifth family of the quadrumana com- 
prises the marmosets, of which there are two genera — the 
Hapale and the Midas. These are very small, measuring 
about eight inches without the tail, which is eleven inches 
long. The marmoset is one of the prettiest of the monkeys, 
and, though at first shy, soon becomes playful and affection- 
ate. Marmosets are one of the few species that breed in 
confinement. Sir William Jardine describes a marmoset who 
gave birth to three offspring in Paris. One of these, for 
some reason, displeased her, and she killed it, but upon the 
others beginning to suck the maternal instinct awoke, and 
she became as affectionate as she was before careless. " The 
male seemed more affectionate and careful of them than the 
mother, and assisted in the charge. The young generally 
keep upon the back or under the belly of the female, and 
Cuvier observed, that when the female was tired of carrying 
them, she would approach the male with a shrill cry, who 
immediately relieved her with his hands, placing them upon 
his back, or under his belly, where they held themselves 
and were carried about until they became restless for milk, 
when they were given over to the mother who, in her turn, 
would again endeavour to get rid of them." 
sub-order ii. The lemurs and their allied forms make up 
The Lemurs, the remaining families of the quadrumana. 
These are three. The Lemnridce, of which there are many 



THE LEMURS. 33 

species, most of which belong to Madagascar, others to Africa, 
Asia, and the Indian Archipelago ; the Tarsidce, which hail from 
Sumatra and Borneo; and the Chiromyidce, of which the aye- 
aye is the representative. The Lemuridce are divided into 
four sub-families by Professor Mivart. I, the Indri; II, the 
true Lemurs; III, the slow Lemurs and IV, the Galagos. 
The lemur • is nocturnal in its habits and noiseless in its 
movements. Some of its species much resemble the cat in 
appearance though its four hands unmistakably demonstrate 
its order. Sir William Jones describes a Slow Lemur (Nycticebus 
tardigradus), which he had in his possession, as "gentle ex- 
cept in the cold season, when his temper seemed wholly 
changed." This animal expressed great resentment when 
disturbed unseasonably. From half an hour after sunrise to 
half an hour before sunset he slept without any intermission, 
rolled up like a hedgehog: and as soon as he awoke he 
began to prepare himself for the occupations of his approach- 
ing day, licking and dressing himself like a cat — an operation 
which the flexibility of his neck and limbs enabled him to 
perform very completely. He was then ready for a slight 
breakfast, after which he commonly took a short nap; but 
when the sun was quite set he recovered all his vivacity. 
" Generally he was not voracious, but of grasshoppers he never 
could have enough; and passed the whole night during the 
hot season in prowling for them. He used all his paws 
indifferently as hands." Mrs. Bowdich tells of one of these 
animals, procured by Mr. Baird at Prince of Wales Island, 
who shared a cage with a dog to whom he became greatly 
attached, while nothing could reconcile him to a cat, which 
constantly jumped over his back, causing. him great annoyance. 

The Tarsier. The tarsier (Tarsins spectrum) is a small, kitten- 
fa^ed animal with long hind legs, which enable it to leap 
like a frog. It is nocturnal in habit, and is found in Sumatra, 
Borneo, and elsewhere. 

The Aye- Aye. The aye-aye {Chiromys madagascariensis) is 

3 



34 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

a remarkable little animal resembling, as Professor Owen says, 
in size and shape the domestic cat, its head and ears being 
larger, and its hind legs and tail longer than those of the 
cat. Dr. Sandwich, writing of one he had in his possession, 
says: — "The thick sticks I put into his cage were bored in 
all directions by a large and destructive grub, called the 
montouk. Just at sunset the aye-aye crept from under his 
blanket, yawned, stretched and betook himself to his tree. 
Presently he came to one of the worm-eaten branches, which 
he began to examine most attentively, and bending forward 
his ears, and applying his nose close to the bark, he rapidly 
tapped the surface with the curious second digit, as a wood- 
pecker taps a tree, though with much less noise, from time 
to time inserting the end of the slender finger into the 
worm-holes as a surgeon would a probe. At length he came 
to a part of the branch which evidently gave out an inter- 
esting sound, for he began to tear it with his strong teeth. 
He rapidly stripped off the bark, cut into the wood, and 
exposed the nest of a grub which he daintily picked out of 
its bed, with the slender, tapping finger, and conveyed the 
luscious morsel to his mouth. But I was yet to learn another 
peculiarity. I gave him water to drink in a saucer, on which 
he stretched out his hand, dipped a finger into it and drew 
it obliquely through his open mouth. After a while he lapped 
like a cat, but his first mode of drinking appeared to me to 
be his way of reaching water in the deep clefts of trees." 
ORDER II ^he anmia l s which most nearly resemble the 
Wing-Handed four-handed animals or quadrumana are the 
Animals. wing-handed animals, — the bats or Cheiroptera. 
These are of singular appearence and interesting habit. "If," 
says the Rev. J. G. Wood, " the fingers of a man were to be 
drawn out like wire to about four feet in length, a thin 
membrane to extend from finger to finger, and another 
membrane to fall from the little finger to the ankles, he 
would make a very tolerable imitation of a bat." — Of course, 



THE BATS. 35 

it should be added, making allowance for proportion, the 
full grown male bat, of the largest species, rarely exceeding 
twelve inches in height from head to foot. Bats' wings are 
highly nervous and sensitive, so much so as to render their 
owners almost independent of sight. Besides being "well 
adapted for flight," says Dr. Percival Wright, "they are still 
capable in a small measure of seizing, differing thus from 
the anterior limbs of Birds." 

Bats. Dr. Dobson divides the order Cheiroptera into 
two sub-orders : I, The Great Bats and II, The Smaller Bats. 
Of these there are numerous genera and a large number of 
species. The Great Bats abound in the tropical and sub- 
tropical regions of the East, where they live on fruit, and 
from this circumstance are classified as " fruit- eating bats," 
though they are sometimes called " flying-foxes." The largest 
of these inhabit Sumatra and Java, living in large companies, 
sleeping by day and foraging by night. A large tree serves 
them for a sleeping-chamber, where, suspending themselves 
head downwards from the branches, they wrap their wings 
about them in lieu of blankets and sleep out the sunshine. 
After sunset they gradually awake and proceed to ravage 
any fruit preserves which may be within reach, committing 
serious depredations while the owners outsleep the moon. 
According to Mr. Francis Day, " they do very great injury 
to cocoa-nut plantations and mangoe gardens." "Their 
habits," says Mr. Day, "are very intemperate, and they often 
pass the night drinking the toddy from the chatties in the 
cocoa-nut trees, which results either in their returning home 
in the early morning in a state of extreme and riotous 
intoxication, or in being found the next day at the foot of 
the trees, sleeping off the effects of their midnight debauch." 
The Smaller Bats include several families, numerous genera, 
an^d a large number of species to be found in almost all 
parts of the world. These bats are chiefly insect-eaters, 
though included among them are the vampire bats and the 



36 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Megaderma lyra which have the reputation of being cannibalistic. 
The various families are "The Horseshoe Bats," "The 
Nycteridae," "The Vespertilionidse, " "The Emballonuridae," 
and " The Phyllostomidse. 

The The common English bats belong to the 

Common Vespertilionidae. The Pipistrelle feeds upon 

English Bats. insects but wiH eat flesh if opportunity serves. 

In his "Natural History of Selbourne," Mr. White describes 
a tame bat which he saw, which would take flies out of a 
person's hand. "If you gave it anything to eat," he says, 
"it brought its wings round before the mouth, hovering and 
hiding its head in the manner of birds of prey when they 
feed. The adroitness it showed in shearing off the wings 
of the flies, which were always rejected, pleased me much. 
Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though it did not 
refuse raw flesh when offered; so that the notion that bats 
go down chimneys and gnaw men's bacon seems no improbable 
story." The Long-eared Bat, Plecotus auritus, is also common 
in England. "Its ears," says Mr. Wood, " are about an inch 
and a half in length and have a fold in them reaching almost 
to the lips," hence its name. "It is very easily tamed." 
ipke The Vampire Bat which belongs to South 

Vampire America has been invested with a halo of romance 
by the stories which have been told about its 
sanguinary character. "It lives," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, 
" on the blood of animals, and sucks usually while its victim 
sleeps. The extremities, where the blood flows freely, as the 
toe of a man, the ears of a horse, or the combs and wattles 
of fowls, are its favourite spots. When it has selected a 
subject, on which it intends to feed, it watches until the 
animal is fairly asleep. It then carefully fans its victim with 
its wings while it bites a little hole in the ear or shoulder, 
and through this small aperture, into which a pin's head 
would scarcely pass, it contrives to abstract sufficient blood 
to make a very ample meal. The wound is so small, and 



THE BATS. 37 

the bat manages so adroitly, that the victim does not discover 
that anything has happened until the morning, when a pool 
of blood betrays the visit of the vampire. " The Vampire 
Bat," says Professor Darwin, "is often the cause of much 
trouble by biting the horses on their withers. The injury 
is not so much owing to the loss of blood, as to the inflammation 
which the pressure of the saddle afterwards produces. The 
whole circumstance has lately been doubted in England. I 
was therefore fortunate in being present when one was actually 
caught on a horse's back. We were bivouacking late one 
evening, near Coquimbo, in Chili, when my servant, noticing 
that one of the horses was very restive, went to see what was 
the matter, and fancying he could distinguish something, 
suddenly put his hand on the beast's withers, and secured 
the vampire. In the morning the spot where the bite had 
been inflicted was easily distinguished by its being slightly 
swollen and bloody. The third day afterwards we rode the 
horse without any ill effects." 

A Traveller's Captain Steadman, in his " Narrative of a Five 
Experience. Years' Expedition against the Revolted Negroes 
of Surinam, " relates, that on waking about four o'clock one 
morning in his hammock, he was extremely alarmed at finding 
himself weltering in congealed blood, and without feeling any 
pain whatever. "The mystery was," continues Captain Stead- 
man, " that I had been bitten by the Vampyre or Spectre of 
Guiana, which is also called the Flying Dog of New Spain, 
and by the Spaniards, Perrovolador. This is no other than 
a bat of monstrous size, that sucks the blood from men and 
cattle while they are fast asleep, even sometimes till they die ; 
and as the manner in which they proceed is truly wonderful, 
I shall endeavour to give a distinct account of it. Knowing, 
b}fr instinct, that the person they intend to attack is in a 
sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet, where, 
while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings, 
which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the 



38 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

great toe, so very small, indeed, that the head of a pin could 
scarcely be received into the wound, which is consequently 
not painful; yet through this orifice he continues to suck the 
blood until he is obliged to disgorge. Cattle they generally 
bite in the ear, but always in places where the blood flows 
spontaneously." 
Megaderma The Vampire Bat of South America has long 
Lyra. been credited with sanguinivorous habits, and 
until recently was supposed to be the only bat having such 
propensities. Mr. Edward Blyth has, however, shown that 
the Megaderma Lyra of Asia will sometimes prey upon the 
smaller species of bat with which it comes in contact. Mr. 
Biyth, one evening, observed a rather large bat of this species 
enter an outhouse, whereupon he procured a light, closed 
the door to prevent escape and then proceeded to catch 
the intruder. In the chase the bat dropped what Mr. Blyth 
at first took to be a young one, but which proved to be 
a small Vespertilio Bat, "feeble from loss of blood, which 
it was evident the Megaderma had been sucking from a 
large, and still bleeding, wound under and behind the ear." 
As the Megaderma had not alighted while in the outhouse, 
Mr. Blyth concluded "that it sucked the vital current from 
its victim au it flew, having probably seized it on the wing, 
and that it was seeking a quiet nook where it might devour 
the body at leisure." Having caught the Megaderma Mr. 
Blyth kept both specimens until the next day, and having 
examined each separately put them both into a cage, where- 
upon the Megaderma attacked the smaller bat "with the 
ferocity of a tiger" ; finding it impossible to escape the cage 
" it hung by the hind legs to one side of its prison, and after 
sucking the victim till no more blood was left commenced 
devouring it, and soon left nothing but the head and some 
portions of the limbs." "The voidings observed shortly 
afterwards in its cage," says Mr. Blyth, "resembled clotted 
blood, which will explain the statement of Steadman and 



INSECT-EATING ANIMALS. 39 

others concerning masses of congealed blood being observed 
near a patient who has been attacked by a South American 
vampire." 

ORDER III. Insect-eating animals (Insectivord) include 
Insect-Eating several families, of which the hedgehogs, the 
Animals. moles and the shrews, are the best known genera. 
The Colugo is perhaps the most singular member of the 
order. According to some writers his proper place is among 
the lemurs, and except that his feet are adorned with 
claws instead of nails, it is easy to understand why he 
might be classed with the quadrumana. The Colugo is 
covered from head to foot by a furry membrane, resembling 
an overcoat open in front and ending in a three cornered 
flap at the tail. 

The The family of the hedgehog contains two genera 

Hedgehog. an d a number of species. Its length is from six 
to ten inches ; the head, back, and sides being covered with 
short spines, the under parts with soft hair. It lives in 
thickets, and subsists on fruits, roots, and insects. During the 
winter, it lies imbedded in moss, or dried leaves, in a state of 
torpidity. It inhabits Europe, Asia and Africa. It is valuable 
in the garden for destroying the insects, and in the kitchen 
for the extermination of cockroaches, beetles and other house- 
hold pests. For defence, it rolls itself into a ball in such a 
manner as to present its prickly spines on all sides. In this 
condition it can suffer considerable violence without injury. 
Mr. Bell mentions a hedgehog that was in the habit of 
running to the edge of an area wall twelve or fourteen feet 
high, and without a moment's pause, leap over, contracting 
into a ball as he fell, and in this form reaching the ground, 
where it quietly unfolded itself as if nothing had happened 
and ran on its way. It is nocturnal in its habits and in its 
natural state lives in pairs. It is easily tamed. A hedgehog 
has been trained to serve as a turnspit "as well," says Captain 
Brown, " in all respects as the dog of that denomination. In 



40 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

a wild state it has been known to attack and kill a leveret. 
In attacking a snake it will roll itself up between its bites and 
thus protect itself against retaliation. 

The Mole. The family of the Talpidse to which the mole 
belongs is a large and interesting one. The common mole 
"when at rest, " says the author of " Tales of Animals," "bears 
more resemblance to a small stuffed sack than to a living 
animal, its head being entirely destitute of external ears, and 
elongated nearly to a point, and its eyes so extremely small 
and completely hidden by the fur, that it would not be sur- 
prising should a casual observer conclude it to be blind. This 
apparently shapeless mass is endowed with great activity and 
a surprising degree of strength, and is excellently suited for 
deriving enjoyment from the peculiar life it is designed to lead. 
It is found abundantly in Europe and North America, from 
Canada to Virginia; often living at no great distance from 
water-courses, or in dykes thrown up to protect meadows 
from inundation. The mole burrows with great quickness, 
and travels under ground with much celerity ; nothing can be 
better constructed for this purpose than its broad and strong 
hands, or fore paws, armed with long and powerful claws, 
which are very sharp at their extremities, and slightly curved 
on the inside. Numerous galleries, communicating with each 
other, enable the mole to travel in various directions, without 
coming to the surface, which they appear to do very rarely, 
unless their progress is impeded by a piece of ground so hard 
as to defy their strength and perseverance. The depth of 
their burrows depends very materially on the character of 
the soil, and the situation of the place ; sometimes running 
for a great distance, at a depth of from one to three inches, 
and sometimes much deeper. Moles are most active early 
in the morning, at midday, and in the evening ; after rains 
they are particularly busy in repairing their damaged galleries ; 
and in long continued wet weather we find that they seek 
the high grounds for security." 



THE MOLE. 41 

An Enterprising Though as Captain Brown points out nothing 
Mole. j s more fatal to the mole than excessive rain, 

which fills their subterranean galleries with water ; the follow- 
ing statement made by Mr. A. Bruce in the Linnaean Trans- 
actions, shows that the animal is not without enterprise on 
the water: — "On visiting the Loch of Clunie, which I often 
did, I observed in it a small island at the distance of one 
hundred and eighty yards from the nearest land, measured 
to be so upon the ice. Upon the island, the Earl of Airly, 
the proprietor, has a castle and small shrubbery. I remarked 
frequently the appearance of fresh mole casts, or hills. I for 
some time took them for those of the water mouse, and one 
day asked the gardener if it was so. No, said he, it was 
the mole ; and that he had caught one or two lately. Five 
or six years ago, he caught two in traps ; and for two years 
after this he had observed none. But, about four years ago, 
coming ashore one summer's evening in the dusk, with the 
Earl of Airly's butler, they saw at a short distance, upon the 
smooth water, some animal paddling towards the island. They 
soon closed with this feeble passenger, and found it to be 
the common mole, led by a most astonishing instinct from 
the castle hill, the nearest point of land, to take possession 
of this desert island. It had been, at the time of my visit, 
for the space of two years quite free from any subterraneous 
inhabitant; but the mole has, for more than a year past, 
made its appearance again, and its operations I have since 
been witness to." 

The Use of The use of the mole is often said to be far 
the Mole, outweighed by the mischief he perpetrates, the 
truth appearing to be that like many other animals, in his 
own place he is valuable, out of it he is a source of danger. 
Both conditions are illustrated by the following, which I quote 
from Mrs. Bowdich's "Anecdotes of Animals." 

" A French naturalist of the name of Henri Lecourt devoted 
a great part of his life to the study of the habits and struc- 



42 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ture of moles ; and he tells us that they will run as fast as a 
horse will gallop. By his observations he rendered essential 
service to a large district in France ; for he discovered that 
numbers of moles had undermined the banks of a canal, and 
that unless means were taken to prevent the catastrophe, 
these banks would give way, and inundation would ensue. 
By his ingenious contrivances and accurate knowledge of their 
habits, he contrived to extirpate them before the occurrence 
of further mischief. Moles, however, are said to be excellent 
drainers of land ; and Mr. Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, used 
to declare that if a hundred men and horses were employed 
to dress a pasture farm of 1500 or 2000 acres, they would 
not do it as effectually as moles would do, if left to them- 
selves. " 

The Shrew. The shrew family is a large one and widely 
distributed over the surface of the earth. The common shrew 
(Sorex vulgaris) is that best known in England. It resembles 
the mouse in general form and varies in size and colour, its usual 
length, including the tail being about four and a half inches. 
Its body is moderately full, its neck short, its head tapering 
to a pointed snout, the fore-feet small, the hind-feet larger 
and the tail shorter than the body. The shrew is generally 
found either in burrows, or among heaps of stones, or in 
holes made by other animals ; near dung heaps or hayricks, 
they are more numerous than elsewhere. Insects are their 
principal subsistence, but they seem no less fond of grain, 
and show a pig's predilection for filth of various sorts. Its 
principal enemies are the Kestrel and the Barn Owl. A 
superstition to the effect that if the shrew should run over 
the legs of a cow or a horse while reposing on the grass it 
causes lameness, is also responsible for the destruction of many 
by ignorant country folk. One species of the shrew enjoys 
the reputation of being the smallest living mammel; it is but 
an inch and a half long with a tail of an inch in length. 
The water shrew is somewhat larger than the common shrew 



FLESH-EATING ANIMALS. 43 

attaining to a length of five and a half inches including the 
tail. The water shrew colonises on the banks of rivers. 
ORDER IV ^he or< ^ er °f flesh-eating animals {catnivora) 
Flesh-eating includes a large number of species among which 
Animals. are the lion, the tiger and the leopard, as 
well as the cat and the dog. The two sub-orders into 
which this order is divided are : I, The Fissipedia, and II, The 
Pinnipedia. The Fissipedia are again divided into ten fami- 
lies; lions, cats, dogs, hyenas, weasels, and bears being the 
most important members. The Pinnipedia includes the seal, 
the sea lion, the walrus and their allies. 

Animals of the cat kind are distinguished 
sub-order 1. _ _ .. , , _ . , _ . . , . , 

The Fissipedia. h Y their shar P and formi dable claws, which 
Animals of the they can hide or extend at pleasure. They 
Cat Kind. are re markable for their rapacity, subsisting 
entirely on the flesh and blood of other animals. The dog, 
wolf, and bear, are sometimes known to live on vegetables, 
or farinaceous food ; but the lion, the tiger, the leopard, and 
other animals of this class, devour nothing but flesh, and 
would starve upon any other provision. They lead a solitary, 
ravenous life, uniting neither for mutual defence, like vegetable 
feeders, nor for mutual support, like those of the dog kind. 
The first of the class is the lion, distinguished from all the 
rest by his strength, his magnitude, and his mane. The 
second is the tiger, rather longer than the lion, but not so 
tall, and known by the streaks and vivid beauty of its skin; 
here we may also mention the puma, which is sometimes 
called a panther, or colloquially a "painter", otherwise a 
couguar, or American lion, which is of a tawny colour. The 
next is the leopard, sometimes called a panther, and the next 
the jaguar, followed by the ounce, not so large as any of the 
former, spotted like them, but distinguished by the cream- 
coloured ground of its hair, and a tail so long as to exceed 
the length of its body. The next is the catamountain, or 
tiger-cat, less than the ounce, but differing particularly in 



44 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

having a shorter tail, and being streaked down the back like 
a tiger. The next is the lynx, of the size of a fox, with lis 
body streaked, and the tips of its ears tufted with black. 
Then comes the Persian lynx, not so large as the lynx, nor 
mottled like it, but with longer ears, tipped also with black, 
and the serval, shaped and streaked like the lynx, but not 
having the tips of its ears tufted. Lastly, the cat, wild and 
tame, with all its varieties ; less than any of the former, but 
like them insidious, rapacious, and cruel. 

The Lion. The lion is known as the King of Beasts; 
though modern travellers have done much to rob him of 
the homage that he once received. Like a human being 
who has been too much lionized, he suffers from the detrac- 
tions which are excited by his pre-eminence. He is found 
chiefly in India and Africa, though he once had a more 
extended range. He was well known to the Greeks, and 
appears in both their poetry and history. Homer celebrates 
him, and according to Herodotus he exploited himself by 
attacking the camels of the army of Xerxes. His noble 
appearance is said to be responsible for the popular ideal of 
his character, which travellers and naturalists declare to be 
minus the magnanimous and generous qualities with which 
it was at one time credited. 
The Lion's In judging of the lion's character it is import- 
Character. an t to remember that he belongs to the cat family, 
and that his virtues and vices are naturally of the cat kind. 
" The lion seldom runs," says the author of " Tales of Animals." 
" He either walks or creeps, or, for a short distance, advances 
rapidly by great bounds. It is evident, therefore, that he 
must seize his prey by stealth; that he is not fitted for an 
open attack ; and that his character is necessarily ' that of 
great power, united to considerable skill and cunning in its 
exercise." Again, the lion, as well as others of the cat 
tribe, takes his prey at night; and it is necessary, therefore, 
that he should have peculiar organs of vision. In all those 



THE LION. 45 

animals which seek their food in the dark, the eye is usually 
of a large size, to admit a great number of rays. This 
peculiar kind of eye, therefore, is necessary to the Lion to 
perceive his prey, and he creeps towards it with a certainty 
which nothing but this distinct nocturnal vision could give." 
Men who hunt the lion in the daytime, when he is usually 
sleeping off the effects of a hearty meal, and who awaken 
him in a surprised and dazed condition when his cat-like eyes 
cannot bear the blaze of the sun, ought not to be surprised 
if he tries to postpone fighting until a more convenient season. 
Nor can he be said to be less noble because he only fights 
when it is necessary to procure food, to protect his young, 
and to defend himself. A veritable Ulysses among the 
beasts he is ready to fight if needs be, but unless urged by 
hunger, or attacked by the hunter, he does not seem to bear 
any particular malice against mankind. 
The Lion's "^ * s sm g u l ar >" sa y s Sparrman, " that the lion, 
Attitude which, according to many, always kills his prey 
towards Man. immediately if it belongs to the brute creation, 
is reported, frequently, although provoked, to content himself 
with merely wounding the human species ; or, at least, to wait 
some time before he gives the fatal blow to the unhappy 
victim he has got under him. A farmer, who the year 
before had the misfortune to be a spectator of a lion seizing 
two of his oxen, at the very instant he had taken them out 
of the waggon, told me that they immediately fell down 
dead upon the spot, close to each other; though, upon 
examining the carcasses afterwards, it appeared that their 
backs only had been broken. In several places through 
which I passed, they mentioned to me by name a father 
and his two sons, who were said to be still living, and who, 
being on foot near a river on their estate, in search of a 
Hob, this latter had rushed out upon them, and thrown one 
of them under his feet. The two others, however, had time 
enough to shoot the lion dead upon the spot, which had 



46 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

lain almost across the youth, so nearly and dearly related 
to them, without having done him any particular hurt. I 
myself saw, near the upper part of Duyvenhoek River, an 
elderly Hottentot who, at that time (his wounds being still 
open), bore under one eye, and underneath his cheek bone 
the ghastly marks of the bite of a lion, which did not think 
it worth his while to give him any other chastisement for 
having, together with his master (whom I also knew), and 
several other Christians, hunted him with great intrepidity, 
though without success. The conversation ran everywhere 
in this part of the country upon one Bota, a farmer and 
captain in the militia, who had lain for sometime under a 
lion, and had received several bruises from the beast, having 
been at the same time a good deal bitten by him in one 
arm, as a token to remember him by; but, upon the whole, 
had, in a manner, had his life given him by this noble animal. 
The man was said then to be living in the district of Artaquas- 
kloof." 

Discretion the ^ e following seems to show a curious power 
better part of of reasoning on the part of the lion. " Diederik 
Valour. Muller, one of the most intrepid and successful 
of modern lion-hunters in South Africa, had," says Sir 
William Jardine, " been out alone hunting in the wilds, when 
he came suddently upon a lion, which, instead of giving way, 
seemed disposed, from the angry attitude he assumed, to 
dispute with him the dominion of the desert. Diederik 
instantly alighted, and confident of his unerring aim levelled 
his gun at the forehead of the lion, who was couched in the 
act to spring, within fifteen paces of him ; but at the moment 
the hunter fired, his horse, whose bridle was round his 
arm, started back and caused him to miss. The lion, bounded 
forward, but stopped within a few paces, confronting Diederik 
who stood defenceless, his gun discharged, and his horse 
running off. The man and the beast stood looking at each 
other in the face for a short space. At length the lion 



THE LION. 47 

moved backward as if to go away. Diederik began to load 
his gun, the lion looked over his shoulder, growled, and 
returned. Diederik stood still. The lion again moved cau- 
tiously off, and the Boer proceeded to load and ram down 
his bullet. The lion again looked back and growled angrily; 
and this occurred repeatedly, until the animal had got off 
to some distance when he took fairly to his heels and 
bounded away." 

The strength Whatever may be said of the lion's courage, 
of the there can be no doubt as to his strength. Burchell 
Lion. t j lus d escr ibes an encounter with a lion. "The 
day was exceedingly pleasant and not a cloud was to be seen. 
For a mile or two we travelled along the banks of the river, 
which in this part abounded in late mat-rushes. The dogs 
seemed much to enjoy prowling about and examining every 
rushy place, and at last met with some object among the 
rushes which caused them to set up a most vehement and 
determined barking. We explored the spot with caution as 
we suspected, from the peculiar tone of the bark, that it was 
what it proved to be — lions. Having encouraged the dogs to 
drive them out, a task which they performed with great 
willingness, we had a full view of an enormous black-maned 
lion and lioness. The latter was seen only for a minute, as 
she made her escape up the river under concealment of the 
rushes; but the lion came steadily forward, and stood still 
and looked at us. At this moment we felt our situation not 
free from danger, as the animal seemed preparing to spring 
upon us, and we were standing on the bank, at a distance 
of only a few yards from him, most of us being on foot, 
and unarmed, without any visible possibility of escaping. At 
this instant the dogs boldly flew in between us and the lion, 
and surrounding him, kept him at bay by their violent and 
resolute barking. The lion, conscious of his strength, remained 
unmoved at their noisy attempts and kept his head turned 
towards us. At one moment, the dogs perceiving his eye 



48 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

thus engaged, had advanced close to his feet, and seemed 
as if they would actually seize hold of him; but they paid 
dearly for their imprudence, for, without discomposing the 
majestic and steady attitude in which he stood fixed, he 
merely moved his paw, and the next instant I beheld two 
lying dead. In doing this he made so little exertion, that it 
was scarcely perceptible by what means they had been killed. 
We fired upon him, and one of the balls went through his 
side, just between the short ribs, but the animal still remained 
standing in the same position. We had now no doubt that 
he would spring upon us, but happily we were mistaken and 
were not sorry to see him move slowly away." 
The Lion's Many instances are on record of strong 
Affection, attachments formed by the lion for his keeper, 
and for dogs or other animals which have been associated 
with him. A remarkable example of this kind is related, where 
a little dog, which had been thrown into a lion's den that 
he might be devoured, was not only spared by the noble 
animal, but became his companion and favourite. In a 
moment of irritation caused by long hunger, the dog, having 
snapped at the first morsels of food, received a blow from 
the lion which proved fatal. From that time the lion 
pined away, refused his food, and at length died, apparently 
of melancholy. 
The Lion's A carpenter was employed some years ago to 
Docility. d some repairs to the cage of a lion at a 
menagerie at Brussels. When the workman saw the lion 
he drew back in terror. The keeper, on this, entered the 
cage and led the animal to the upper part of it, while the 
lower was refitting. He there amused himself for some time 
playing with the lion, and being wearied he fell asleep. 
The carpenter, having finished his work, called the keeper 
to inspect what he had done, but the keeper made no 
answer. Having repeatedly called in vain he became alarmed 
and proceeded to the upper part of the cage, where, looking 



THE LION. 49 

through the bars, he saw the lion and the keeper lying side 
by side, and immediately uttered a loud cry. The lion 
started up and stared at the carpenter with an eye of fury, and 
then, placing his paw on the breast of his keeper, lay down 
to sleep again. The carpenter, terrified at what he saw, ran 
off to secure help, whereupon some of the attendants suc- 
ceeded in arousing the keeper who, far from being disconcerted 
by the circumstances, took the paw of the lion and shook 
it gently in token of regard and the animal quietly returned 
with him to his former residence. M. Felix, the keeper of 
the animals at Paris, had charge of a lion which refused 
food, and became sullen and mopish during the temporary 
absence of M. Felix through illness, but who regained his 
spirits and showed every demonstration of joy upon the 
reappearance of M. Felix at his post of duty. 
The Story of With so many authentic instances which can 
Androcles. be cited of the amenability of the lion to kindly 
influences, the story of Androcles and the lion does not seem so 
improbable as it has been sometimes thought. The following 
is the story : — In the days of ancient Rome, a Roman governor 
treated one of his slaves or subjects, called Androcles, so 
cruelly that he ran away. To escape pursuit he fled to a 
desert and crept into a cave. What was his horror to find 
that this cave was a lion's den, and to see a large lion 
approach him ! He expected instantly to be destroyed ; but 
the lion, approaching Androcles, held up his paw or foot 
with a ','upplicating air. Androcles examined the lion's paw, 
and found a thorn in it which he drew out, and the lion, 
apparently relieved, fawned upon his benefactor as a dog 
does upon his master. After some time Androcles ventured 
back to the place where he lived before. He was discovered, 
taken up as a runaway slave, and condemned to be the prey 
of a wild beast. He was accordingly thrown into a place 
where a large lion, recently caught, was let in upon him. 
The lion came bounding toward Androcles, and the spec- 

4 



50 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

tators expected to see the man instantly torn in pieces. What 
was their astonishment to see the lion approach him, and 
fawn before him like a dog who had found his master ! It 
was the lion Androcles had met in the desert, and the 
grateful animal would not rend his benefactor. 

A Lion Hunt. Livingstone came to very close quarters with 
a lion on one occasion, the circumstances of which he thus 
narrates. "The Bakatla of the village Mabotsa, were much 
troubled by lions, which leaped into the cattle-pens by night 
and destroyed their cows. They even attacked the herds in 
open day. This was so unusual an occurrence that the people 
believed that they were bewitched, 'given' as they said, 
into the power of the lions by a neighbouring tribe. They 
went once to attack the animals, but being rather a cowardly 
people compared to Bechuanas in general on such occasions, 
they returned without killing any. It is well known that if 
one in a troop of lions is killed, the others take the hint 
and leave that part of the country. So the next time the 
herds were attacked, I went with the people in order to 
encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by 
destroying one of the marauders. We found the lions on 
a small hill, about a quarter of a mile in length and covered 
with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they 
gradually closed up, ascending pretty near to each other. 
Being down below on the plain with a native schoolmaster, 
named Mebalwe, I saw one of the lions sitting upon a 
piece of rock, within the now closed circle of men. Mebalwe 
fired at him before I could, and the ball struck the rock 
upon which the animal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, 
as a dog does at a stick or a stone thrown at him, then, 
leaping away, broke through the opening circle and escaped 
unhurt. When the circle was reformed we saw two other 
lions in it, but we were afraid to fire lest we should strike 
the men ; and they allowed the beasts to burst through also. 
If the Bakatla had acted according to the custom of the 



THE LION. 51 

country, they would have speared the lions in their attempt 
to get out. Seeing that we could not get them to kill one 
of the lions, we bent our footsteps towards the village; in 
going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the 
beasts sitting on a piece of rock, as before, but this time he 
had a little bush in front. Being about thirty yards off, I 
took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired 
both barrels into in. The men then called out: 'He is shot! 
He is shot!' Others cried: 'He has been shot by another 
man, too ; let us go to him.' I did not see anyone else shoot 
at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger behind the 
bush, and turning to the people, said : 'Stop a little till I load 
again.' When in the act of ramming down the bullets I heard 
a shout. Starting, and looking half round, I saw the lion just 
in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height. 
He caught my shoulder as he sprang and we both came 
to the ground below together. Growling horribly, close to my 
ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock 
produced a stupor, similar to that which seems to be felt by 
a mouse after the first shake of a cat. It caused a sort of 
dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain or feeling 
of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. 
It was like what patients partially under the influence 
of chloroform describe, who see all the operation but feel 
not the knife. This singular condition was not the result of 
any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed 
no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This 
peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by 
the carnivora; and, if so, is a merciful provision by our 
benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning 
round to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw 
on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, 
who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen 
yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels. 
The lion immediately left me and attacking Mebalwe bit his 



52 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, after 
he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the 
lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe and 
caught this man by the shoulder; but at that moment the 
bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. 
The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have 
been his paroxysm of dying rage. In order to take out the 
charm from him, the Bakatla, on the following day, made a 
huge bonfire over the carcass, which was declared to be 
the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the 
bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper 
part of my arm. A wound from this animal's tooth resembles 
a gunshot wound. It is generally followed by a great deal 
of sloughing and discharge, and pains are felt in the part 
periodically ever after. I had on a tartan jacket on the 
occasion, and I believe that it wiped off all the virus from 
the teeth that pierced the flesh; for my two companions in 
this affray have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while 
I have escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in 
my limb." 
A Thrilling Professor Lichtenstein, in his " Travels " gives a 
Experience, thrilling story of a Boer's adventure with a lion, 
which he had from the lips of the Boer himself. " It is now," 
said the colonist, "more than two years since, in the very 
place where we stand, I ventured to take one of the most 
daring shots that ever was hazarded. My wife was sitting 
within the house near the door, the children were playing 
about her, and I was without, near the house, busied in 
doing something to a waggon, when suddenly, though it 
was mid-day, an enormous lion appeared, came up and laid 
himself quietly down in the shade upon the very threshold 
of the door. My wife, either frozen with fear, or aware of 
the danger of attempting to fly, remained motionless in her 
place, while the children took refuge in her arms. The cry 
they uttered attracted my attention, and I hastened towards 



THE LION. 53 

the door, but my astonishment may well be conceived when 
I found the entrance to it barred in such a way. Although 
the animal had not seen me, unarmed as I was escape 
seemed impossible, yet I glided gently, scarcely knowing what 
I meant to do, to the side of the house, up to the window 
of my chamber, where I knew my loaded gun was standing. 
By a most happy chance, I had set it into the corner close 
by the window, so that I could reach it with my hand; for, 
as you may perceive, the opening is too small to admit of 
my having got in, and still more fortunately, the door of the 
room was open, so that I could see the whole danger of 
the scene. The lion was beginning to move. There was 
no' longer any time to think; I called softly to the mother 
not to be alarmed, and invoking the name of the Lord, 
fired my piece. The ball passed directly over the hair of 
my boy's head and lodged in the forehead of the lion, 
immediately above his eyes and stretched him on the ground, 
so that he never stirred more." "Indeed," says Professor 
Lichtenstein, " we all shuddered as we listened to this relation. 
Never, as he himself observed, was a more daring attempt 
hazarded. Had he failed in his aim, mother and children 
were all inevitably lost; if the boy had moved he had been 
struck; the least turn in the lion and the shot had not been 
mortal to him ; and to consummate the whole, the head of the 
creature was in some sort protected by the door-post." 
Attacked by In Phillips's "Researches in South Africa," the 
a Lion, following account is given of the adventures of 
a traveller which we quote from Jardine's Naturalists' Library 
collated with other versions. "Our waggons, which were 
obliged to take a circuitous route, arrived at last, and we 
pitched our tent a musket-shot from the kraal, and, after 
having arranged everything, went to rest, but were soon 
disturbed; for, about midnight the cattle and horses, which 
were standing between the waggons, began to start and 
run, and one of the drivers to shout, on which every one 



54 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ran out of the tent with his gun. About thirty paces from 
the tent stood a lion, which, on seeing us, walked very 
deliberately about thirty paces farther, behind a small thorn- 
bush, carrying something with him, which I took to be a 
young ox. We fired more than sixty shots at that bush, 
without perceiving any movement. The south-east wind blew 
strong, the sky was clear, and the moon shone very bright, 
so that we could perceive everything at that distance. After 
the cattle had been quieted again, and I had looked over 
everything, I missed the sentry from before the tent, Jan 
Smit, from Antwerp. We called as loudly as possible, but 
in vain; nobody answered, from which I concluded that the 
lion had carried him off. Three or four men then advanced 
very cautiously to the bush, which stood right opposite the 
door of the tent, to see if they could discover anything of 
the man, but returned helter-skelter; for the lion, who was 
there still, rose up, and began to roar. They found there 
the musket of the sentry, which was cocked, and also his cap 
and shoes. We fired again about a hundred shots at the 
bush, without perceiving anything of the lion, from which 
we concluded that he was killed, or had run away. This 
induced the marksman of our company to go and see if he 
was still there or not, taking with him a firebrand. As soon 
as he approached the bush, the lion roared terribly, and 
leapt at him; on which he threw the firebrand at him, and 
the other people having fired about ten shots at him, he 
retired directly to his former place behind that bush. The 
firebrand which he had thrown at the lion had fallen in the 
midst of the bush, and, favoured by the strong south-east 
wind, it began to burn with a great flame, so that we could 
see very clearly into and through it. We continued our firing 
into it until the night passed away, and the day began to 
break, when seven men were posted on the farthest waggons 
to watch him, and to take aim at him if he should come 
out. At last, before it became quite light, he walked up the 



THE LION. 55 

hill, with the man in his mouth, when about forty shots were 
fired without hitting him, although some were very near. 
Every time this happened, he turned round towards the tent, 
and came roaring towards us; and, I am of opinion, that if 
he had been hit, he would have rushed on the people and 
the tent. When it became broad daylight, we perceived, by 
the blood, and a piece of the clothes of the man, that the 
lion had taken him away." "For the satisfaction of the 
curious," says Sir William Jardine, "it may be mentioned, that 
he was followed, and killed in the forenoon, over the mangled 
remains of the unfortunate sentinel." 

A Night Mr. Gordon Cumming gives an even more thrilling 
Surprise, account of a similar adventure of his experience. 
He says: — "About three hours after the sun went down, I 
called to my men to come and take their coffee and supper 
which was ready for them at my fire; and after supper, three 
of them returned before their comrades to their own fireside 
and lay down .... In a few minutes an ox came out by the 
gate of the kraal and walked round the back of it. Hen- 
drick got up and drove him again and then went back to 
his fireside and lay down. Hendrick and Ruyter lay on one 
side of the fire under one blanket and John Stofolus lay on 
the other .... Suddenly the appalling and murderous voice 
of an angry bloodthirsty lion, within a few yards of us, burst 
upon my ear, followed by the shrieking of the Hottentots. 
Again and again the murderous roar of the attack was re- 
peated. We heard John and Ruyter shriek, 'the Lion! the 
Lion ! . . .' Next instant John Stofolus rushed into the midst 
of us almost speechless with fear and terror, and eyes bursting 
from their sockets, and shrieked out, ' the lion ! the lion ! 
He has got Hendrick, he dragged him away from the fire 
beside me. I struck him with the burning brands upon his 
head, but he would not let go his hold. Hendrick is dead ! 
O God ! Hendrick is dead ! Let us take fire and seek 
him . . . . ' It appeared that when the unfortunate Hendrick 



56 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

rose to drive in the ox, the lion had watched him to his 
fireside, and he had scarcely lain down, when the brute sprang 
upon him and Ruyter (for both lay under one blanket) with 
his appalling murderous roar, and roaring as he lay, grappled 
him with his fearful claws and kept biting him on the breast 
and shoulder, all the while feeling for his neck; having got 
hold of which, he at once dragged him away backwards 
round the bush into the dense shade .... The next morning, 
just as the day began to dawn we heard the lion dragging 
something up the river side under cover of the bank. We 
drove the cattle out of the kraal and then proceeded to 
inspect the scene of the night's awful tragedy. In the hollow 
where the lion had lain, consuming his prey, we found one 
leg of the unfortunate Hendrick, bitten off below the knee, 
the shoe still on the foot, the grass and bushes were all 
stained with his blood, and fragments of his pea-coat lay 
around. Hendrick was by far the best man I had about 
my waggons ... his loss to us all was very serious." 

A Lion In the southern part of Africa, where the Hot- 

Outwitted, tentots live, lions were very common, and the 
adventures of the inhabitants with them very frequent. 
One evening a Hottentot saw that he was pursued by a lion. 
He was very much alarmed, and devised the following means 
of escape. He went to the edge of a precipice, and placed 
himself a little below it. He then put his cloak and hat on 
a stick, and elevated them over his head, giving them a 
gentle motion. The lion came crouching along, and, mistaking 
the cloak and hat for the man, as the Hottentot intended 
he should do, he sprang upon them with a swift leap, and, 
passing over the head of the Hottentot, was plunged head- 
long down the precipice. 

Old Instincts ^ n tne "Miscellany of Natural History," from 

and new which several of these anecdotes are taken there 

Opportunities. fa & stQry illustrating the way in which old 

instincts will show themselves in the presence of new 



THE TIGER. 57 

opportunities. On the evening of the 20th October 1816, a 
lioness made her escape from a travelling menagerie which was 
drawn up on the road-side, about seven miles from the town 
of Salisbury. It was about eight o'clock, and quite dark, and 
the Exeter mail was passing when the animal suddenly darted 
forward, and springing at the throat of the off-leader, fastened 
the talons of her fore-feet on each side of the neck, close to the 
horse's head, while those of the hind-feet were forced into the chest. 
In this situation she hung, while the blood streamed from the 
agonized creature, as if a vein had been opened by a lancet. 
It may be easily supposed, that the alarm excited by this 
encounter, was very great. Two inside passengers instantly 
dashed out of the coach and fled to a house on the road- 
side. The keeper of the caravan came, and immediately set 
a large Newfoundland dog on the animal. The lioness, on 
finding herself seized by the leg, quitted the horse, and 
turned upon the dog, which the spectators expected would 
very soon become the victim of her fury; but she was 
contented with giving him only a slight punishment, and 
on hearing the voice of her keeper, retired under a 
neighbouring straw rick, and gently allowed herself to be 
secured. "This anecdote," says the writer, "is remarkably 
characteristic, the moment that the animal found herself at 
liberty, and an object of prey presented itself, all her original 
propensities, hitherto restrained, were instantly called into 
action; but no sooner did the voice of her keeper reach her 
ears, than the force of long habit prevailed, she became 
calm, and allowed herself to be bound, and led again to 
her den." 

The Tiger. The tiger is one of the most beautiful, but at 
the same time one of the most rapacious and destructive of 
the whole animal race. It is found in the warm climates of 
t&e East, especially in India and Siam. It so much resembles 
the cat, as almost to induce us to consider the latter a tiger 
in miniature. It lurks generally near a fountain, or on the 



58 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

brink of a river, to surprise such animals as come to quench 
their thirst ; and like the lion bounds upon its prey, easily 
making a spring of twenty feet and upwards. When it has 
killed one animal it often attacks others, swallowing their 
blood for which it has an insatiable thirst in large draughts ; 
for even when satisfied with food, it is not satiated with 
slaughter. The tiger is said by some to prefer human flesh 
to that of any other animal; and it is certain, that it does 
not, like many other beasts of prey, shun the presence of 
man, but has been even known on more than one occasion 
to spring upon a hunting party when seated at their refresh- 
ment, and carry off one of the number, rushing through the 
shrubs into the forest, and devouring the unfortunate victim 
at its leisure. The strength as well as the agility of this animal 
is remarkable ; it carries off a deer with the greatest ease. 

The tiger is ornamented with long streaks across its body. 
The ground colour is yellow, very deep on the back, but 
growing lighter towards the belly, where it softens to white, 
as it does also on the throat and the inside of the legs. The 
bars which cross the body from the back to the belly are of 
the most beautiful black, and the skin altogether is so extremely 
fine and glossy, that it is much esteemed, and sold at a high 
price in all the eastern countries, especially China. "The 
colouring of the tiger," says the Rev. J. G. Wood," is a good 
instance of the manner in which animals are protected by 
the similarity of their external appearance to the particular 
locality in which they reside. The stripes on the tiger's skin 
so exactly assimilate with the long jungle grass amongst which 
it lives, that it is impossible for unpractised eyes to discern 
the animal at all, even when a considerable portion of its 
body is exposed." 

Bavages The ravages committed by tigers have often 

Committed led to the organisation of hunting parties formed 

y lgers. w ^i a view to exterminate the more aggressive 

of the enemy. The following narrative of a tiger excursion 



THE TIGER. 59 

at Doongal is from the "East India Government Gazette." 
"There were five tigers killed by the party, besides one 
bear killed, and another wounded ; a wolf, a hyaena, a panther, 
a leopard, and some immense rock and cobra capella snakes. 
Among the occurrences during the excursion, some were of a 
peculiar and pathetic nature. The first happened to a poor 
Bunnia, or dealer, of the village of Doongal, who had been 
to the city of Hydrabad, to collect some money, and who 
was returning, after having gathered together a small sum, 
when on the way, a little beyond the cantonment of Secun- 
derabad, he saw an armed Paeon seated, and apparently a 
traveller in the same direction. After mutual inquiries, the 
Paeon told the Bunnia he was going to the same place; and, 
as the Bunnia was glad to have somebody to accompany 
him, he gave him a part of his victuals ; and, on their way, 
they mutually related their histories. The Bunnia innocently 
mentioned the object of his visit to the city, and the fact 
of his returning with the money he had collected ; this im- 
mediately raised the avarice of the Pseon, who decided in 
his mind to kill the poor Bunnia in a suitable place, and 
strip him of his money. They proceeded together, with this 
design in the mind of the Paeon, until they came to a place 
where the ravages of the tiger were notorious, and he prepared 
to kill the Bunnia ; and while he was struggling with him, 
and in the act of drawing his sword to slay him, a tiger 
sprang upon the Paeon, and carried him off, leaving his shield 
and sword, which the Bunnia carried to Doongal, as trophies 
of retributive justice in his favour. The next victim was the 
wife of a Bunjarra. They were resting under a tree, when a 
tiger sprang up, and seized the woman by the head. The 
husband, from mere impulse to save his wife, held her by the 
legs ; and a struggle ensued between the tiger pulling her by 
"the head, and the man by the legs, until the issue, which 
could not be doubted, when the tiger carried off the woman. 
The man seemed to be rather partial to his wife, and devoted 



60 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

himself to revenge her death, — forsook his cattle and prop- 
erty, — resigned them to his brother, and offered his services 
to be of the tiger-killing party, and strayed about the jungles, 
until he was heard of no more." 

"A camel driver, who had been just married, was bringing 
home his bride, when a tiger followed, and kept them in view 
a great part of the road, for an opportunity to seize one of 
them. The bride having occasion to alight, was immediately 
pounced upon by the ferocious beast, and he scampered away 
with her in his mouth. A shepherd was taken by a young 
tiger, which was followed by the mother, a large tigress, and 
devoured at a distance of two miles ; and a Bunnia, or 
dealer, from Bolarum, was seized returning from a fair. A 
woman, with an infant about a year old, was captured by a 
tiger ; and the infant was found by the Puttal, or head of the 
village, who brought it to his house. Some of the Company's 
elephants that were going for forage were chased by a tiger, 
which was kept off by a spearman ; and a comical chase of 
them was made up to Doongal, the elephants running before 
the tiger, until they entered the village. It is said the lives 
lost by these tigers amounted to about three hundred per- 
sons in one year, within the range of seven villages; and 
the destruction of cattle, sheep, and goats, was said to be 
immense." 

An Intrepid Captain Brown in his " Natural History of 
Hunter. Animals " tells a thrilling story of an adventure of 
Lieutenant Collet, of the Bombay army, who having heard 
that a very large tiger had destroyed seven inhabitants of an 
adjacent village, resolved, with another officer, to attempt the 
destruction of the monster. Having ordered seven elephants, 
they went in quest of the animal, which they found sleeping 
beneath a bush. Roused by the noise of the elephants, he 
made a furious charge upon them, and Lieutenant Collet's 
elephant received him on her shoulder, the other six having 
turned about, and run off, notwithstanding the exertions of 



THE LEOPARD. 6l 

their riders. The elephant shook off the tiger, and Lieutenant 
Collet having fired two balls at him, he fell; but, again 
recovering himself, he made a spring at the lieutenant. Having 
missed his object, he seized the elephant by the hind leg, 
and, having received a kick from her, and another ball, he 
let go his hold, and fell a second time. Supposing that 
he was now disabled, Collet very rashly dismounted, with the 
resolution of killing him with his pistols; but the tiger, who 
had only been crouching to take another spring, flew upon 
the lieutenant, and caught him in his mouth. The strength 
and intrepidity of the lieutenant, however, did not forsake 
him : he immediately fired his pistol into the tiger's body, 
and, finding that this had no effect, disengaged his arms with 
all his force, and, directing the other pistol to his heart, he 
at last destroyed him, after receiving twenty-five severe 
wounds. 

The The Leopard, who is also known as the panther, 

Leopard, belongs to Asia and Africa. He is distinguished 
by the beauty of his coat which is of a rich fawn colour, 
graduating to white underneath his belly. It is covered with 
spots or clusters of marks which resemble the form of a rose. 
He is an agile climber and a terror to goats, sheep, monkeys 
and all lesser animals, but shows no special hostility to man 
unless attacked or cornered. 

Like other members of the cat family the Leopard 

Leopard's shows remarkable tenacity of life. Whether like 

Tenacity of the domestic cat he has nine lives or not, he 

certainly takes a great deal of killing. 

The following account is from the pen of an eye-witness 
quoted from Captain Brown's "Natural History of Animals". 
— "I was at Jaffna, at the northern extremity of the Island 
of Ceylon, in the beginning of the year 1819, when, one 
morning, my servant called me an hour or two before my 
usual time, with ' Master, master! people sent for master's 
dogs — tiger in the town ! ' There are no real timers in Cevlon : 



62 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

but leopards or panthers are always called so, and by our- 
selves as well as by the natives. This turned out to be a 
panther. My gun chanced not to be put together; and, while 
my servant was doing it, the collector and two medical men, 
who had recently arrived, in consequence of the cholera 
morbus having just then reached Ceylon from the Continent, 
came to my door, the former armed with a fowling-piece, and 
the two latter with remarkably blunt hog-spears. They insisted 
upon setting off, without waiting for my gun, — a proceeding 
not much to my taste. The tiger (I must continue to call 
him so) had taken refuge in a hut, the roof of which, like 
those of Ceylon huts in general, spread to the ground like 
an umbrella; the only aperture into it was a small door, 
about four feet high. The collector wanted to get the tiger 
out at once. I begged to wait for my gun; but no — the 
fowling-piece, (loaded with ball, of course,) and the two hog- 
spears, were quite enough. I got a hedge-stake, and awaited 
my fate, from very shame. At this moment, to my great 
delight, there arrived from the fort an English officer, two 
artillery-men, and a Malay captain; and a pretty figure we 
should have cut without them, as the event will show. I 
was now quite ready to attack, and my gun came a minute 
afterwards. The whole scene which follows took place within 
an enclosure, about twenty feet square, formed, on three sides, 
by a strong fence of palmyra leaves, and on the fourth by 
the hut. At the door of this, the two artillery-men planted 
themselves: and the Malay captain got at the top, to frighten 
the tiger out, by worrying it — an easy operation, as the huts 
there are covered with cocoa-nut leaves. One of the artillery- 
men wanted to go in to the tiger, but we would not suffer 
it. At last the beast sprang. This man received him on his 
bayonet, which he thrust apparently down his throat, firing 
his piece at the same moment. The bayonet broke off short, 
leaving less than three inches on the musket; the rest remained 
in the animal, but was invisible to us. The shot probably 



THE LEOPARD. 63 

went through his cheek, for it certainly did not seriously 
injure him, as he instantly rose upon his legs, with a loud 
roar, and placed his paws upon the soldier's breast. At this 
moment, the animal appeared to me to about reach the centre 
of the man's face; but I had scarcely time to observe this, 
when the tiger, stooping his head, seized the soldier's arm 
in his mouth, turned him half round staggering, threw him 
over on his back, and fell upon him. Our dread now was, 
that, if we fired upon the tiger, we might kill the man. For 
a moment, there was a pause, when his comrade attacked 
the beast exactly in the same manner as the gallant fellow 
himself had done. He struck his bayonet into his head; the 
tiger rose at him — he fired; and this time the ball took effect, 
and in the head. The animal staggered backwards, and we 
all poured in our fire. He still kicked and writhed; when 
the gentlemen with the hog-spears advanced, and fixed him, 
while he was finished by some natives beating him on the 
head with hedge-stakes. The brave artilleryman was, after 
all, but slightly hurt: He claimed the skin, which was very 
cheerfully given to him. There was, however, a cry among 
the natives, that the head should be cut off: it was; and, 
in so doing, the knife came directly across the bayonet. The 
animal measured little less than four feet, from the root of 
the tail to the muzzle. There was no tradition of a tiger 
having been in Jaffna before. Indeed, this one must have 
either come a distance of almost twenty miles, or have swam 
across an arm of the sea nearly two miles in breadth; for 
Jaffna stands on a peninsula, on which there is no jungle 
of any magnitude." 

Hunters Captain Brown gives a thrilling story of an 

Hunted, adventure which befell two Boers in South 
Africa in 1822. They were returning from a hunting excur- 
sion, when they unexpectedly fell in with a leopard in a 
Tnountain ravine, and immediately gave chase to him. The 
animal at first endeavoured to escape, by clambering up a 



64 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

precipice, but, being hotly pressed, and slightly wounded by 
a musket-ball, he turned upon his pursuers, with that frantic 
ferocity, which, on such emergencies, he frequently displays, 
and, springing upon the man who had fired at him, tore him 
from his horse to the ground, biting him at the same time 
very severely on the shoulder, and tearing his face and arms 
with his claws. The other, hunter, seeing the danger of his 
comrade, sprang from his horse, and attempted to shoot the 
leopard through the head; but, whether owing to trepidation, 
or the fear of wounding his friend, or the sudden motions 
of the animal, he unfortunately missed his aim. The leopard, 
abandoning his prostrate enemy darted with redoubled fury 
upon this second antagonist; and so fierce and sudden was 
his onset, that before the Boer could stab him with his hunt- 
ing-knife, he had struck him in the face with his claws, and 
torn the scalp over his forehead. In this frightful condition, 
the hunter grappled with the raging beast, and, struggling for 
life, they rolled together down a steep declivity. All this 
passed so rapidly that the other man had scarcely time to 
recover from the confusion into which his feline foe had 
thrown him, to seize his gun and rush forward to aid his 
comrade, when he beheld them rolling together down the 
steep bank, in mortal conflict. In a few moments he was at 
the bottom with them, but too late to save the life of his 
friend, who had so gallantly defended him. The leopard 
had torn open the jugular vein, and so dreadfully mangled 
the throat of the unfortunate man, that his death was inevit- 
able; and his comrade had only the melancholy satisfaction 
of completing the destruction of the savage beast, which 
was already much exhausted by several deep wounds it 
had received in the breast, from the desperate knife of the 
expiring huntsman." 

The Jaguar. The Jaguar, otherwise known as the American 
Leopard, belongs to the forests of South America, and has many 
points of difference from as well as some of similarity with 



THE JAGUAR. 65 

the Leopard of Asia. Though ferocious in his wild state, he 
is amenable to civilizing influences and becomes mild and 
tame in captivity. He is an excellent swimmer and an expert 
climber, ascending to the tops of high branchless trees by 
fixing his claws in the trunks. It is said that he can hunt 
in the trees almost as well as he can upon the ground, and 
that hence he becomes a formidable enemy to the monkeys. 
He is also a clever fisherman, his method being that of 
dropping saliva on to the surface of the water, and upon the 
approach of a fish, by a dexterous stroke of his paw knock- 
ing it out of the water on to the bank. D'Azara, says: "He 
is a very ferocious animal causing great destruction among 
horses and asses. He is extremely fond of eggs, and goes to 
the shores frequented by turtles, and digs their eggs out of 
the sand." 
The strength The strength of the Jaguar is very great, and 
of the Jaguar. as h e can climb, swim, and leap a great distance, 
he is almost equally formidable in three elements. He is said 
to attack the alligator and to banquet with evident relish off 
his victim. D'Azara says that on one occasion he found a 
Jaguar feasting upon a horse which it had killed. The Jaguar 
fled at his approach, whereupon he had the body of the 
horse dragged to within a musket shot of a tree in which he 
purposed watching for the Jaguar's return. While temporarily 
absent he left a man to keep watch, and while he was away the 
jaguar reappeared from the opposite side of a river which was 
both deep and broad. Having crossed the river the animal 
approached, and seizing the body of the horse with his teeth 
dragged it some sixty paces to the water side, plunged in 
with it, swam across the river, pulled it out upon the other 
side, and carried it into a neighbouring wood. 

A Night of Mrs. Bowdich tells a story of two early settlers 
4 Horror. f n the Western States of America, a man and 
his wife, who closed their wooden hut, and went to pay a 
visit at a distance, leaving a freshly-killed piece of venison 

5 



66 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

hanging inside. "The gable end of this house was not 
boarded up as high as the roof, but a large aperture was 
left for light and air. By taking an enormous leap, a hungry 
jaguar, attracted by the smell of the venison, had entered 
the hut and devoured part of it. He was disturbed by the 
return of the owners, and took his departure. The venison 
was removed. The husband went away the night after to a 
distance, and left his wife alone in the hut. She had not 
been long in bed before she heard the jaguar leap in at the 
open gable. There was no door between her room and 
that in which he had entered, and she knew not how to 
protect herself. She, however, screamed as loudly as she 
could, and made all the violent noises she could think of, 
which served to frighten him away at that time ; but she 
knew he would come again, and she must be prepared for 
him. She tried to make a large fire, but the wood was 
expended. She thought of rolling herself up in the bed- 
clothes, but these would be torn off. The idea of getting 
under the low bedstead suggested itself, but she felt sure 
a paw would be stretched forth which would drag her out. 
Her husband had taken all their firearms. At last, as she 
heard the jaguar scrambling up the end of the house, in 
despair she got into a large store chest, the lid of which 
closed with a spring. Scarcely was she within it, and had 
dragged the lid down, inserting her fingers between it and 
the side of the chest, when the jaguar discovered where she 
was. He smelt round the chest, tried to get his head in 
through the crack, but fortunately he could not raise the lid. 
He found her fingers and began to lick them; she felt 
them bleed, but did not dare to move them for fear she 
should be suffocated. At length the jaguar leaped on to the 
lid, and his weight pressing down the lid, fractured her 
fingers. Still she could not move. He smelt round again, 
he pulled, he leaped on and off, till at last getting tired of 
his vain efforts, he went away. The poor woman lay there 



THE PUMA. 67 

till daybreak, and then only feeling safe from her enemy, 
she went as fast as her strength would let her to her nearest 
neighbour's a distance of two miles, where she procured 
help for her wounded fingers, which were long in getting 
well. On his return, her husband found a male and female 
jaguar with their cubs, in the forest close by, and all were 
destroyed." 

The Puma. The Puma, or American lion, is known by 
several names. It is sometimes called a panther, or collo- 
quially a " painter ", and sometimes a cougar. It resembles 
the lioness somewhat in appearance, especially about the 
head, though it is smaller and less powerful. Its length 
varies from four feet to four feet and a half, and its 
colour is that of the fox, graduating in parts to white. Like 
the lion it inhabits plains rather than forests; — in the marshy 
districts, and on the borders of rivers in the south, and in 
the swamps and prairies of the northern districts. It lives on 
such wild and domestic animals as come within its reach, 
lying at full length upon the lower branches of trees, and 
dropping upon its victims as they pass beneath. Deer and 
cattle of all kinds it attacks, and, not content with killing 
enough for immediate purposes, destroys large numbers, suck- 
ing small quantities of blood from each. According to Sir 
William Jardine it is exceedingly destructive among sheep 
and has been known to kill fifty in one night. The Puma is, 
however, easily tamed and becomes very docile under kindly 
treatment. Edward Kean kept a tame one which followed 
him about like a dog and was as playful as a kitten. 

The Puma's "Molina and D'Azara say," says Sir William 
Ferocity. Jardine, " that the puma will flee from men, and 
that its timidity renders its pursuit generally free from dan- 
ger." The following incident given by Sir William Jardine 
and at greater length by Captain Brown, shows that this is 
not always the case. According to these accounts, two 
hunters visited the Katskills in pursuit of game, each armed 



68 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

with a gun and accompanied by a dog. They agreed to 
follow contrary directions round the base of a hill, and to 
join each other immediately upon hearing the report of a 
gun. Shortly after parting, one of the friends heard the gun 
of his comrade and hastening to his assistance came first 
upon the body of his friend's dog, torn and lacerated; proceed- 
ing further, his attention was attracted by the growl of a 
wild animal, and looking up, he discovered a large puma 
crouching over the body of his friend, upon the branch of a 
tree. The animal glared at him, and he, knowing the rapi- 
dity of the Puma's movements, immediately raised his gun 
and fired, whereupon the puma rolled over on to the ground 
with his prey. The dog flew at the infuriated beast, but one 
blow from the puma's paw silenced him for ever. Seeing 
that his comrade was dead the hunter left the scene in 
search of assistance, upon securing which, he returned to 
find the puma dead, beside the two dogs and the hunter whom 
he had killed. 

Animals and Captain Head, in his "Journey Across the Pam- 
Men - pas " says : — " The fear which all wild animals in 
America have of man is very singularly seen in the Pampas. 
I often rode towards the ostriches and zatnas, crouching under 
the opposite side of my horse's neck; but I always found 
that, although they would allow my loose horse to approach 
them, they, even when young, ran from me, though little of 
my figure was visible; and when I saw them all enjoying 
themselves in such full liberty, it was at first not pleasing to 
observe that one's appearance was everywhere a signal to 
them that they should fly from their enemy. Yet it is by 
this fear 'that man hath dominion over the beasts of the 
field,' and there is no animal in South America that does 
not acknowledge this instinctive feeling. As a singular proof 
of the above, and of the difference between the wild beasts 
of America and of the old world, I will venture to relate a 
circumstance which a man sincerely assured me had happened 



THE OCELOT. 69 

to him in South America: — He was trying to shoot some 
wild ducks, and, in order to approach them unperceived, he 
put the corner of his poncho (which is a sort of long narrow 
blanket) over his head, and crawling along the ground upon 
his hands and knees, the poncho not only covered his body, 
but trailed along the ground behind him. As he was thus 
creeping by a large bush of reeds, he heard a loud, sudden 
noise, between a bark and a roar: he felt something heavy 
strike his feet, and, instantly jumping up, he saw, to his 
astonishment, a large puma actually standing on his poncho ; 
and, perhaps, the animal was equally astonished to find 
himself in the immediate presence of so athletic a man. The 
man told me he was unwilling to fire, as his gun was loaded 
with very small shot; and he therefore remained motionless, 
the puma standing on his poncho for many seconds ; at last 
the creature turned his head, and walking very slowly away 
about ten yards, he stopped, and turned again : the man still 
maintained his ground, upon which the puma tacitly acknow- 
ledged his supremacy, and walked off." 
The Ocelot. The Ocelot is a native of South America and 
one of the most beautiful of the Cat family. It is smaller 
than the Leopard, attaining to about three feet in length, and 
eighteen inches in height. Its colour is grey, tinged with 
fawn and the body and legs are covered with longitudinal 
chainlike stripes broken into patches of some inches. Its 
habits are like those of its near relations, the Leopard and 
the Jaguar, though its appetite for blood makes it perhaps 
even more destructive. It will suck blood with the greatest 
avidity and frequently leave a carcase otherwise untouched 
in order to pursue other animals for the sake of more blood. 
When tame the Ocelot is remarkably playful, climbing up 
the legs and nestling in the arms of its benefactors. It is 
apt to be dangerous in a poultry yard but will keep good 
friends with a house dog, and play, somewhat roughly, per- 
haps, but without malice, with children. 



70 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Clouded] This animal belongs to Sumatra where it lives 
Tiger. upon the forest birds. Like the Ocelot it is 
exceedingly playful when tame, seeking the notice and return- 
ing the caresses of all who encourage it. 

The Serval. " The Serval," says Captain Brown, " is somewhat 
larger than the ordinary wild cat. Its general colour is a 
pale fulvous yellow. It resides on trees, where it makes a 
bed, and breeds its young. It seldom appears on the ground, 
living principally on birds, squirrels, and small animals; it is 
extremely agile, and leaps, with great rapidity, from one branch 
to another. The serval never assaults man, but rather endea- 
vours to avoid him; if, however, it is compelled to attack, 
it darts furiously on its antagonist, and bites and tears, like 
the rest of the cat kind." 

The Common The common wild cat is one of the few wild 
Wild Cat. animals still to be found in the British Isles. Up 
till recent years these cats were observed among the woody 
mountainous districts of Cumberland and Westmoreland and in 
the wild parts of Scotland and Ireland, though as the land 
is brought more and more under cultivation they decrease 
in numbers, failing suitable asylum. They abound in the 
forests of Germany and Russia, where they live in the hollows 
of trees and caves of rocks, and feed on birds, squirrels, 
hares and rabbits, and will even attack young lambs and fawns. 
The wild cat is not to be confused with the domestic cat 
which has relapsed into a wild state. "In the form and 
shape of the tail," says Sir William Jardine, "this animal 
somewhat resembles the Lynx. The fur is very thick, woolly 
and long. The general colour is a greyish yellow, in some 
specimens inclining much +o a shade of bluish grey." — "They 
spring," says Mrs. Bowdich, " furiously upon whoever approaches, 
and utter unearthly cries. Mr. St. John, when walking up to 
his knees in heather over broken ground, came suddenly 
upon a wild cat. She rushed out between his legs, every 
hair standing up. He cut a good-sized stick; and three Skye 



THE CAT. 71 

terriers gave chase till she took refuge in a corner, spitting 
and growling. On trying to dislodge her, she flew at Mr. 
St. John's face, over the dogs' heads ; but he struck her while 
in the air, and she fell among the dogs, who soon despatched 
her, even though it has been said that a wild cat has twelve 
instead of nine lives. If one of these animals is taken, those 
in the neighbourhood are sure to be also secured, as they 
will all, after the manner of foxes, assemble round the body 
of their relative." 
The Domestic The origin of the domestic cat is difficult to 

Cat * determine. Cats were numerous in Egypt from 

an early date, and are said to be native to Syria. Accord- 
ing to Professor Rolleston the cat was not domesticated any- 
where, except in Egypt, before the Christian Era. Few 
animals are more familiar to the general reader, and few 
therefore, need less description. The " Tabby " is perhaps 
the commonest, though black, white, and tortoise-shell varieties 
abound. The Angora or Angola cat, the Persian cat, and the 
Manx cat, which latter is deficient in the useful and orna- 
mental embellishment of a tail, are also well known. 

Cat There are many superstitions concerning the 

Superstitions. cat ^ foe black variety coming in for the larger 
share of popular suspicion. To steal one and bury it alive 
was at one time regarded as a specific against cattle desease 
in the Irish Highlands, while, according to Captain Brown, it 
was the practice far families in Scotland to tie up their cats 
on Hallowe'en to prevent their use for equestrian purposes by 
witches during the night. " They have always been regarded 
as attendants upon witches," says Mrs. Bowdich, "and witches 
themselves have been said to borrow their shapes when on 
their mysterious expeditions. I was once told that Lord 
Cochrane was accompanied by a favourite black cat in a 
cruise through the northern seas. The weather had been 
most unpropitious ; no day had passed without some untoward 
circumstance ; and the sailors were not slow in attributing the 



72 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

whole to the influence of the black cat on board. This came 
to Lord Cochrane's ears, and knowing that any attempt to 
reason his men out of so absurd a notion was perfectly use- 
less, he offered to sacrifice this object of his regard, and have 
her thrown overboard. This, however, far from creating any 
satisfaction, only alarmed the men still more. They were 
sure that the tempests she would then raise would be much 
worse than any they had yet encountered; and they implored 
his lordship to let her remain unmolested. i There was no 
help, and they could only hope, if she were not affronted, 
they might at the end of their time reach England in 
safety.'" 
The Cat as " The cat," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "is fami- 
a Hunter, liarly known to us as a persevering mouse-hunter. 
So strong, indeed, is the passion for hunting in the breast 
of the cat, that she sometimes disdains mice, 'and such 
small deer,' and trespasses on warrens or preserves. A large 
tabby cat, residing at no great distance from White Horse 
Vale, was accustomed to go out poaching in the preserves 
of a neighbouring nobleman, and so expert was she at this 
illegal sport that she constantly returned bearing in her 
mouth a leveret or a partridge, which she insisted on present- 
ing to her mistress, who in vain endeavoured to check her 
marauding propensities. These exploits, however, brought 
their own punishment; for one day, when in the act of 
seizing a leveret, she found herself caught in a vermin trap, 
which deprived her of one of her hind legs. This mis- 
fortune did not damp her enthusiasm for hunting, as, 
although the loss of a leg prevented her from chasing hares, 
and suchlike animals, she would still bring in an occa- 
sional rat." 

The Cat and " A cat, which had a numerous litter of kittens," 

her Young. savs Captain Brown, " one sunny day encouraged 

her little ones to frolic in the vernal beams of noon, about 

the stable door, where she was domiciled. While she was 



THE CAT. 73 

joining them in a thousand tricks and gambols, a large hawk, 
who was sailing above the barn-yard, in a moment darted 
upon one of the kittens, and would have as quickly borne 
it off, but for the courageous mother, who, seeing the danger 
of her offspring, sprang on the common enemy, who, to 
defend itself, let fall the prize. The battle presently became 
severe to both parties. The hawk, by the power of his wings, 
the sharpness of his talons, and the strength of his beak, 
had for a while the advantage, cruelly lacerating the poor 
cat, and had actually deprived her of one eye in the con- 
flict; but puss, no way daunted at the accident, strove, with 
all her cunning and agility, for her kittens, till she had broken 
the wing of her adversary. In this state, she got him more 
within the power of her claws, and availing herself of this 
advantage, by an instantaneous exertion, she laid the hawk 
motionless beneath her feet; and, as if exulting in the victory, 
tore the head off the vanquished tyrant. This accomplished, 
disregarding the loss of her eye, she ran to the bleeding 
kitten, licked the wounds made by the hawk's talons in its 
tender sides, and purred whilst she caressed her liberated 
offspring." 

The Cat as a The f ema l e cat seems to be in a special sense 
Foster a born mother. She is assiduous in the care of 
Mother. ^^ Qwn voun g anc [ singularly ready to extend 
the benefits of motherhood even to alien offspring. Instances 
are on record in which cats have reared squirrels, dogs, lev- 
erets, rats, ducks, chickens, and even small birds. These have 
usually occurred at times when the cats have been deprived 
of their ow r n young. Mr. T. Foggitt says : " A cat belonging 
to the Albert Dock Warehouse, Liverpool, gave birth to six 
kittens. It was deemed necessary to destroy four of them, 
and they were accordingly drowned. The remaining two 
were placed, along with their mother, in some loose cotton, 
collected for the purpose in a box, in one of the warehouse 
rooms. On removing the box a few mornings after, to give 



74 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

puss her usual breakfast, great curiosity was excited on seeing 
a third added to the number ; and the astonishment was still 
greater when the third was discovered to be a young rat 
which the cat had taken from its nest in the night-time, and 
brought home as a companion to the kittens she was then 
nursing. The young rat was very lively, and was treated by 
the cat with the same attention and care as if it were one 
of her own offspring. " 

The Cat as a The distances that cats will travel, finding 
Traveller, their way with unerring instinct many miles across 
country of which there seems no reason to suppose them to have 
had previous knowledge is very remarkable. Mrs. Bowdich 
records the case of a cat who disliking her new home, 
returned to her old one, in doing which, she had to cross 
two rivers, one of them about eighty feet broad and two feet 
and a half deep, running strong; the other wider and more 
rapid, but less deep. Cats are said to have found their way from 
Edinburgh to Glasgow, and one to the writer's knowledge 
returned from Dover to Canterbury after being carried from 
thence by rail. Captain Brown gives the following remark- 
able instance. In June, 1825, a farmer, residing in the neigh- 
bourhood of Ross, sent a load of grain to Gloucester, a 
distance of about sixteen miles. The . waggoners loaded in 
the evening, and started early in the morning. On unload- 
ing at Gloucester, a favourite cat, belonging to the farmer, 
was found among the sacks, with two kittens of very recent 
birth. The waggoner very humanely placed puss and her 
young in a hay-loft, where he expected they would remain 
in safety, until he should be ready to depart for home. On 
his return to the loft shortly afterwards, neither cat nor kittens 
were to be found, and he reluctantly left town without them. 
Next morning the cat entered the kitchen of her master's house 
with one kitten in her mouth. It was dead; but she placed 
it before the fire, and without seeking food, o indulging, 
for a moment, in the genial warmth of stic her dome hearth,, 



THE CAT. 75 

disappeared again. In a short time she returned with the 
other kitten, laid it down by the first, stretched herself 
beside them, and instantly expired ! The poor creature could 
have carried but one at a time, and, consequently, must have 
travelled three times over the whole line of her journey, and 
performed forty- eight miles in less than twelve hours. 
The Cat as The favourite food of the cat is fish, which 
Sportsman, curiously enough inhabits an element to which the 
cat has a great aversion. There are, however, numerous instances 
on record of cats which have overcome their natural anti- 
pathy to water in order to gratify their natural taste for fish. 
An extraordinary case of this kind is recorded in the Plymouth 
Journal, June, 1828: — "There is now at the battery on the 
Devil's Point, a cat, which is an expert catcher of the finny 
tribe, being in the constant habit of diving into the sea, and 
bringing up the fish alive in her mouth, and depositing them 
in the guard-room, for the use of the soldiers. She is now 
seven years old, and has long been a useful caterer. It is 
supposed that her pursuit of the water-rats first taught her to 
venture into the water, to which it is well known puss has a 
natural aversion. She is as fond of the water as a New- 
foundland dog, and takes her regular peregrinations along the 
rocks at its edge, looking out for her prey, ready to dive for 
them at a moment's notice." 

Mr. Beverley R. Morris says: "When living in Worcester 
many years ago, I remember frequently seeing the cat of 
a near neighbour of ours bring fish, mostly eels, into the 
house, which it used to catch in a pond not far off. This 
was an almost everyday occurrence." 

The Cat's Many remarkable illustrations might be given 
Intelligence. f t j ie sa g ac ity and intelligence of the cat. A 
lady had for many years been the possessor of a cat and a 
canary bird, who became the closest friends, never bearing 
any lengthy separation from each other, and spending their 
whole time in each other's society. One summer day the 



76 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

lady was sitting working in her drawing-room, and the cat 
and bird were a short distance off. Suddenly, without a 
moment's deliberation, the cat, to the great astonishment of 
the lady, uttered a loud growl, and then, seizing her little 
playmate in her mouth, darted off w T ith it to a place of safety. 
A strange cat had entered the room and the friendly one had 
adopted this plan of saving the bird from the enemy. A 
still more remarkable illustration of the intelligence of a cat 
is given by De la Croix as follows: "I once saw," says he, 
" a lecturer upon experimental philosophy place a cat under 
the glass receiver of an air-pump, for the purpose of demon- 
strating that very certain fact, that life cannot be supported 
without air and respiration. The lecturer had already made 
several strokes with the piston, in order to exhaust the receiver 
of its air, when the animal, who began to feel herself very 
uncomfortable in the rarefied atmosphere, was fortunate enough 
to discover the source from which her uneasiness proceeded. 
She placed her paw upon the hole through which the air 
escaped, and thus prevented any more from passing out of 
the receiver. All the exertions of the philosopher were now 
unavailing ; in vain he drew the piston ; the cat's paw effect- 
ually prevented its operation. Hoping to effect his purpose, 
he let air again into the receiver, which, as soon as the cat 
perceived, she withdrew her paw from the aperture ; but 
whenever he attempted to exhaust the receiver, she applied 
her paw as before. All the spectators clapped their hands 
in admiration of the wonderful sagacity of the animal, and the 
lecturer found himself under the necessity of liberating her, 
and substituting in her place another, that possessed less pene- 
tration, and enabled him to exhibit the cruel experiment." 

The Lynx. The several species of the Lynx belong to the 
genus Lyncus, the principle varieties of which are the Canada 
Lynx, and the European Lynx. The Lynx has short legs, 
and is generally about the size of a fox, attaining often to 
three feet in length. It preys upon small quadrupeds and 



THE CHETA1L 77 

birds, in the pursuit of which it is an expert climber. The 
Canada Lvnx preys largely upon the American hare, which 
it is well qualified to hunt. The Lynx is distinguished by a 
peculiar gait, for unlike other animals, it bounds with, and 
alights upon, all four feet at once. The ears are erect, and 
tipped with a long pencil of black hair. The fur which is 
long and thick is of a pale grey colour, with a reddish tinge, 
marked with dusky spots on the upper part of the body. The 
under parts are white. The European Lynx feeds upon 
small animals and birds. The fur of the lynx is valuable, on 
account of its great softness and warmth, and is in consequence an 
extensive article of commerce. It inhabits the northern parts 
of Europe, Asia, and America; and prefers cold or temperate 
climates, differing in this respect from most of the cat tribe. 
The Chetah. The Chetah or Hunting Leopard is the one 
species of the genus Cyncelurus. It is a handsome animal 
and capable of considerable training. According to Mr. Benefs 
description it is " intermediate in size between the leopard 
and the hound, more slender in its body, more elevated in 
its legs, and less flattened on the fore part of its head than the 
leopard, while deficient in the peculiarly graceful and lengthened 
form, both of head and body, which characterizes the hound." 
" The ground colour of the Chetah is a bright yellowish fawn 
above, and nearly pure white beneath ; covered above, and 
on the sides, by innum enable closely approximating spots, 
from half an inch to an inch in diameter, which are intensely 
black, and do not, as in the leopard and other spotted cats, 
form roses with a lighter centre, but are full and complete." 
The Chetah is found in India and Africa but it is only in 
India that it is trained for hunting purposes. Sir William 
Jardine says : " the employment of the hunting leopard may 
be compared to the sport of falconry. The natural instinct 
teaches them to pursue the game, the reward of a portion 
of it, or of the blood, induces them to give it up, and again 
subject themselves to their master." 



78 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Chetah The P ract * ce °f employing animals to hunt 
as a animals is of very early origin, and the docility 

Huntsman. f $ie Chetah early marked him out as a suitable 
ally in the chase. Chetahs are so gentle that they can be 
led about in a leash like greyhounds. The following descrip- 
tion of a hunt is from "The Naturalist's Library". "Just 
before we reached our ground, the shuter suwars (camel 
courier), who always moved on our flanks in search of game, 
reported a herd of antelopes, about a mile out of the line of 
march, and the Chetahs being at hand, we went in pursuit 
of them. The leopards are each accommodated with a flat- 
topped cart, without sides, drawn by two bullocks, and each 
animal has two attendants. They are loosely bound by a 
collar and rope to the back of the vehicle, and are also held 
by the keeper by a strap round the loins. A leathern hood 
covers the eyes. On entering from a cotton field, we came 
in sight of four antelopes, and my driver managed to get 
within a hundred yards of them before they took alarm. 
The Chetah was quickly unhooded and loosed from his 
bonds; and, as soon as he viewed the deer, he dropped 
quietly off the cart on the opposite side to that on which they 
stood, and approached them at a slow crouching canter, 
masking himself by every bush, and inequality, which lay in 
his way. As soon, however, as the deer began to show alarm, 
he quickened his pace and was in the midst of them in a 
few bounds. He singled out a doe, and ran it close for 
about 200 yards, when he reached it with a blow of his 
paw, rolled it over, and in an instant was sucking the life 
blood from its throat." "As soon as the deer is pulled," 
says the same account, " a keeper runs up, hoods the Chetah, 
cuts the victim's throat, and securing some of the blood in 
a wooden ladle, thrusts it under the leopard's nose. The 
antelope is then dragged away and placed in a receptacle 
under the hatchery, while the Chetah is rewarded with a leg 
for his pains." 



1111-: ICHNEUMON. 79 

The Civits. The family Viverridae includes a large number 
of species of small carnivorous animals of which the Civits 
and the Ichneumons are the best known. They belong 
chiefly to Africa and South Asia, but some are found in 
the south of Europe. The African Civit hails from Gaboon 
and Abyssinia and the Asiatic variety from Bengal, Nepaul, 
China and Formosa. It is from these animals that we get 
the fatty substance, used in perfumery and known as 
civit. Of this Mr. Piesse says : " In is pure state, civit 
has to nearly all persons a most disgusting odour, but when 
diluted to an infinitesimal portion its perfume its agreeable. 
The Genet, and the Paradoxure are other genera of this 
family." 

The Ichneumon. The Ichneumon numbers some fifteen genera, 
and sixty species. The best known of these is the grey 
Ichneumon which comes from India or adjacent countries. 
Naturally savage it soon becomes tame under kindly treat- 
ment. It seems to have a natural enmity towards serpents, 
which it attacks and destroys. The Mahrattas say that it 
neutralizes the effects of snake bites by eating the root of 
the monguswail. Captain Brown records an experiment in 
which the ichneumon was placed in a room with a poisonous 
serpent which it tried to avoid. On the two being removed 
to the open air, the ichneumon is said to have immediately 
darted at the serpent and destroyed it, afterwards retiring 
to the wood and eating a portion of the plant said to be 
an antidote to the serpent's venom. The Ichneumon is 
about the size of the domestic cat and of a dark silver 
grey colour. The Egyptian Ichneumon much resembles the 
cat in its habits and manners and is so deadly a foe to 
reptiles and vermin, that it is domesticated with a view to 
their destruction. It is remarkably quick in its movements, 
darting with unerring aim at the head of the reptile it 
attacks. It displays also the cat's patience in watching for 
its prey. It has a great liking for crocodile's eggs and with 



80 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

remarkable instinct unearths them from the banks of rivers 
where they have been deposited. 

Dormant Though perfectly tame in captivity, the natural 
Instinct, instincts of the ichneumon are only dormant, as 
the following illustration will show. M. d'Obsonville says, in his 
" Essay on the Nature of Various Animals", " I had an ichneu- 
mon very young, which I brought up. I fed it at first with 
milk, and afterwards with baked meat, mixed with rice. It 
soon became even tamer than a cat ; for it came when called, 
and followed me, though at liberty, into the country. One 
day I brought to him a small water serpent alive, being 
desirous to know how far his instinct would carry him, against 
a being with w r hich he w r as hitherto totally unacquainted. His 
first emotion seemed to be astonishment, mixed with anger : 
for his hair became erect; but in an instant after, he slipped 
behind the reptile, and, with remarkable swiftness and agility, 
leaped upon its head, seized it, and crushed it between his 
teeth. This essay, and new aliment, seemed to have awakened 
in him his innate and destructive voracity, which, till then, 
had given way to the gentleness he had acquired from his 
education. I had about my house several curious kinds of 
fowls, among which he had been brought up, and which, till 
then, he had suffered to go and come unmolested and unre- 
garded ; but, a few days after, when he found himself alone, 
he strangled them every one, eat a little, and, as it appeared, 
drank the blood of two." 
The Aard The Aard Wolf of South Africa, is the sole 
Wolf. genus and species of the Protelidae family. It 
much resembles the hyaena in appearance and habit, and 
feeds on carrion and white ants? 

The Hysena. The Hyaena, though long treated as a member 
of the dog family, is now separately classified as the 
Hyaenidae, a family of one genus and three species, all of 
which are found in Africa. The Hyaena is also found in 
Egypt, Arabia, Persia and other parts ot Asia. He has 



THE HYAENA. 8l 

immensely powerful teeth with which he can crush the bones 
of his victims, apparently eating bones and flesh with impu- 
nity. He is nocturnal in his habits, living in caves and 
hollows in the day time and prowling about at night in search 
of prey. Speaking of the Barbary hyaena Bruce says: — "He 
seems to be stupid or senseless in the day, or at the appear- 
ance of strong light, unless when pursued by hunters. I have 
locked up a goat, a kid, and a lamb, with him all day when 
he was fasting, and found them in the evening alive and 
unhurt." The principle varieties are the striped Hyaena, and 
the spotted Hyaena. Bruce speaking of the former says, "he 
is brutish, indolent, slovenly and impudent and seems to 
possess much the manners of the wolf. His courage appears 
to proceed from an insatiable appetite, and has nothing of 
the brave or generous in it, and he dies oftener flying than fight- 
ing." The cry of the hyaena, sometimes called a laugh, 
begins with a moan and ends with a demoniacal shriek which 
has been variously described by travellers but which all agree 
in calling hideous and disgusting. In size he resembles a 
large mastiff, but the formation of his neck and jaws give 
him a power far beyond that of other animals of his size. 
Whatever fear he may have of man, he has none of other 
animals and will even face the lion. Bruce speaks of his 
special liking for the flesh of the dog and of the dog's reluc- 
tance to face him. " My greyhounds, accustomed to fasten 
upon the wild boar, would not venture to engage with him. 
On the contrary, there was not a journey I made that he 
did not kill several of my greyhounds, and once or twice 
robbed, me of my whole stock: he would seek and seize 
them in the servants' tents where they were tied, and en- 
deavour to carry them away before the very people that were 
guarding them." His coat is covered with long coarse hairs 
of a dirty grey colour, which form a mane the length of his 
back, his sides being striped or spotted, according to the 
species. The hyaena for all his repulsiveness serves a useful 

6 



82 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

purpose, as a scavenger, devouring all the offal which comes 
in its way, including the dead of his own species which no 
other animal will touch. The hyaena can be tamed and 
taught to follow its master and to hunt other animals. 

The Striped Bruce tells the following story of the impudence 
Hyaena. Q f fae striped hyaena. "One night in Maitsha, 
being very intent on observation, I heard something pass 
behind me towards the bed, but upon looking round could 
perceive nothing. Having finished what I was then about, I 
went out of my tent, resolving directly to return, which I 
immediately did, when I perceived large blue eyes glaring at 
me in the dark. I called upon my servant with a light; and 
there was the hyaena standing nigh the head of the bed, with 
two or three large bunches of candles in his mouth. To have 
fired at him, I was in danger of breaking my quadrant or 
other furniture ; and he seemed, by keeping the candles steadily 
in his mouth, to wish for no other prey at that time. As his 
mouth was full, and he had no claws to tear with, I was not 
afraid of him, but with a pike struck him as near the heart 
as I could judge. It was not till then he showed any sign 
of fierceness ; but, upon feeling his wound, he let drop the 
candles, and endeavoured to run up the shaft of the spear 
to arrive at me; so that, in self-defence, I was obliged to draw 
out a pistol from my girdle and shoot him, and nearly at the 
same time my servant cleft his skull with a battle-axe. In a 
word, the hyaena was the plague of our lives, the terror of 
our night- walks, the destruction of our mules and asses, which 
above all others are his favourite food." 

The Spotted The spotted hyaena belongs to South Africa 
Hyaena. an( j seems to possess more daring than his cousin 
of Abyssinia, and to show a greater preference for human 
food. According to Mr. Stepstone, the Mambookies build 
their houses in the form of a beehive from eighteen to twenty 
feet in diameter, placing a raised platform at the back and 
leaving the front-area for the accommodation of the calves 



THE HYAENA. 83 

at night. Thus the animals are nearest to the door, notwith- 
standing which the hyaena will " pass by the calves and take 
the children from under the mother's kaross; and this in such 
a gentle and cautious manner, that the poor parent is uncon- 
scious of her loss, until the cries of her little innocent have 
reached her from without, when it has been a close prisoner 
in the jaws of the monster." Many years ago, when animals 
were kept at the Tower of London, the den of a spotted 
hyaena required some repair. "The carpenter," says Mrs. 
Bowdich, "nailed a thick oaken plank upon the floor, about 
seven feet long, putting at least a dozen nails into it, each 
longer than his middle finger. At one end of this piece of 
wood there was a small projection, and not having a proper 
chisel with him by which he might remove it, the man 
returned to his shop to fetch one. While he was absent some 
persons came to see the animals, and the hyaena was let 
down by the keeper into the part of the den in which the 
carpenter had been at work. Directly the beast saw the 
projecting piece of wood he seized it w T ith his teeth, tore the 
plank up, and drew out every nail with the utmost ease ; 
which action will give a good idea of the muscular strength 
of this creature." 
A Narrow Sparrman tells an amusing story of the daring 
scape. an( j ^ fright of a hyaena, as follows: "One 
night, at a feast near the Cape, a trumpeter who had made 
himself drunk with liquor was carried out of doors and laid 
on the grass, in order that the air might both cool and 
sober him. The scent of the man soon attracted a spotted 
hyaena, which threw him on his back, and carried him away 
towards Table Mountain. The hyaena doubtless supposed 
that the senseless drunkard was a corpse, and consequently 
a fair prize. In the meantime the musician awoke, and 
was at once sufficiently sensible to know the danger of his 
situation, and to sound the alarm with his trumpet, which 
he fortunately carried at his side. The hyaena, as it may be 



84 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

imagined, was greatly frightened in its turn, and immediately 
ran away, leaving the trumpeter, it is to be hoped, 'a wiser 
man' for his extraordinary ride. It is remarkable that the 
soldier was not seriously injured by the hyaena, for the teeth 
of the animal were fortunately fastened in the coat and not 
in the flesh of the man." 

Animals of Animals of the dog kind, are neither so 
the Dog Kind, numerous, nor, in general, so ferocious as those 
of the panther or cat kind. The principal species are the 
wolf, the jackal, the fox, and the dog. This class may be 
principally distinguished by their claws, which have no sheath 
like those of the cat kind, but are placed at the point of 
each toe, without the capability of being stretched forward 
or drawn back. The nose, as well as the jaw, of all the 
dog kind, is longer than in the cat; the body in proportion 
more strongly made, and covered with hair instead of fur. 
They also far exceed the other kind in the sense of smell, 
the olfactory nerves being diffused upon a very extensive 
membrane within the skull, which accounts for their sur- 
prising acuteness in this sense. 

The Wolf. The Wolf is about three feet and a half long, 
and about two feet and a half high, larger than our great 
breed of mastiffs, which are seldom more than three feet by 
two. He bears a great resemblance to the dog, but is much 
stronger, and the length of his hair contributes still more to 
his robust appearance. The feature which principally distin- 
guishes the visage of the wolf from that of the dog, is the 
eye, which opens slantingly upwards in the same direction 
with the nose; whereas, in the dog, it opens more at right 
angles with the nose, as in man. The colour of the eyeballs 
in the wolf, is a fiery green, giving his visage a fierce and 
formidable air. He generally hides by day in the thickest 
coverts, and only ventures out at night; when, sallying forth 
over the country, he keeps peering round the villages, and 
carries off such animals as are not under protection — attacks 



ANIMALS OF THE DOG KIND. 85 

the sheep-fold, scratches up and undermines the thresholds 
of doors where the sheep are housed, enters furiously, and 
destroys all before he begins to fix upon and carry off his 
prey. The wolf has great strength, particularly in his foreparts, 
and the muscles of his neck and jaws. He carries off a sheep 
in his mouth without letting it touch the ground, and runs with 
it much faster than the shepherds who pursue him ; so that no- 
thing but the dogs can overtake and oblige him to quit his prey. 
Notwithstanding his great strength, cunning, and agility, the 
wolf being the declared enemy of man, is often hard pressed 
for subsistence ; he has always a gaunt and starved appearance, 
and, indeed, often dies of hunger. He has been hunted 
down, and is now rarely to be found in civilized countries. 
The Fox. The Fox is of a much more slender make than 
the wolf, and not nearly so large, being little more than two 
feet long. The tail is longer and more bushy, the nose 
smaller, approaching nearer to that of the greyhound, and its 
hair softer. Its eyes, however, are obliquely set, like those 
of the wolf. The fox has long been famous for cunning; 
he is patient and prudent, and gains by address what is 
denied to his courage or strength. He is most destructive 
to poultry. When he gets into a farm-yard, he begins by 
levelling all the poultry without remorse, and carrying off a 
part of the spoil, he hides it at some convenient distance. 
Returning, he carries oft another fowl, which he hides in like 
manner, but not in the same place ; and this he repeats several 
times, until the approach of day, or the noise of the domestics, 
warns him to retire to his hole. He often destroys a large 
quantity of game, seizing the partridge and quail while sitting 
on their nests. He even eats rats, mice, serpents, toads, 
and lizards. In vain does the hedge-hog roll itself up into 
a ball to oppose him ; he teases it until it is obliged to appear 
uncovered, and then devours it. Besides the common Fox 
(Yulpes Vulgaris), there are numerous varieties, of which the 
Tahaleb or Egyptian Fox and the Fennec (Feneca Zaarensis) 



86 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

of North Africa, the Kit Fox, the Red, the Grey and the 
Silver Fox of North America, and the Arctic Fox (Leucocyon 
lagopui) are the best known. 

The Jackal. The Jackal, one of the most common of wild 
animals in the East, is about the size of the fox, but 
in shape it more nearly resembles the wolf. Its colour is a 
bright yellow, or sorrel. Its cry is a howl, mixed with barking, 
and a lamentation resembling that of human distress. The 
jackal may be considered as the vulture of the quadruped 
kind; the most putrid substances that once had life, are 
greedily devoured. Like the hyaena, the jackals scratch up 
with their feet the new-made grave, and devour the contents, 
however decomposed. While at this dreary work, they make 
a mournful cry, like that of children under chastisement, and 
having thus dug up the body, they amicably share it. In 
countries, therefore, where they abound, the people are obliged 
to beat the earth over the grave, and mix it with thorns, to 
prevent the jackals from scraping it away. The jackal never 
goes alone, but always in packs of forty or fifty together. 
They watch the burying-grounds, follow armies, and keep in 
the rear of caravans. The jackal, after having tired down its 
prey, is often deprived of the spoil by the lion, the panther, 
or the tiger, whose appetites are superior to their swiftness ; 
these attend its call, and devour the prey which it has run 
down by its unceasing perseverance ; and this circumstance 
has given rise to the erroneous opinion, that the jackal is the 
lion's provider. The jackal is found in some parts of Europe 
and abounds in most parts of Asia. Those of the warmest 
climates are the largest, and their colour is rather of a reddish 
brown than of that beautiful yellow by which the smaller 
jackals are distinguished. Like the Fox it forms burrows in 
the earth and emits an offensive odour. 

The 'Wolfs " The Wolf," says Professor Duncan in " Cassell's 

Mode of Natural History", " usually lives in solitary places 

tac ' in mountains; but in Spain he is said sometimes 



THE WOLF. 87 

to make his lair in corn-fields, in close proximity to inhabi- 
tated dwellings. Here he lives with his wife and family, 
usually cache during the day, and issuing forth at night to 
take his prey. During the warmer periods of the year wolves, 
as a rule, hunt each one for himself, but in winter they often 
unite into great packs, and pursue their prey over the snow 
at a rapid pace and with indomitable perseverance. Swift 
and untiring must be the animal which, on an open plain, 
can escape from them; even the horse, perfectly constructed 
as he is for rapid running, is almost certain to succumb, 
unless he can reach a village before his pace begins to flag. 
They never spring upon an animal from an ambush — the 
nearest approach ever made to such a mode of attack being 
their practice of attacking sheepfolds by leaping into the 
midst of the flock and killing right and left; when they 
reach their prey, too, the first onslaught is made with their 
teeth, and never by a blow of the paw. Thus, a wolfs 
attack — like that of all members of the genus Canis — is 
entirely different from a cat's. The cat lies in ambush all 
alone, springs upon the passing prey, which if he misses he 
scarcely ever pursues, and kills by a blow of the paw. The 
dog and wolf attack openly, sometimes alone, but oftener in 
company, pursue their prey with unflagging energy until it 
falls a victim, and give the death-wound at once with their 
teeth." 

The "Wolf's That the wolf sometimes employs cunning as 
Cunning we vj as savagery in seeking his prey is shown by 
the following story from " Broke's Travels in the North of 
Sweden": "I observed, on setting out from Sormjole, the last 
post, that the peasant who drove my sledge was armed with 
a cutlass; and, on inquiring the reason, was told that, the 
day preceding, while he was passing in his sledge the part 
of the forest we were then in, he had encountered a wolf, 
which was so daring, that it actually sprang over the hinder 
part of the sledge he was driving, and attempted to carry off 



88 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

a small dog which was sitting behind him. During my journey 
from Tornea to Stockholm, I heard everywhere of the ravages 
committed by wolves, not upon the human species or the 
cattle, but chiefly upon the peasants' dogs, considerable num- 
bers of which had been devoured. I was told that these 
were the favourite prey of this animal ; and that, in order to 
seize upon them with the greater ease, it puts itself into a 
crouching posture, and begins to play several antic tricks, to 
attract the attention of the poor dog, which, caught by these 
seeming demonstrations of friendship, and fancying it to be 
one of his own species, from the similarity, advances towards 
it to join in the gambols, and is carried off by its treacherous 
enemy. Several peasants that I conversed with mentioned 
their having been eye-witnesses of this circumstance." 
The 'Wolf's Mr. Lloyd in his " Field Sports in the North 

Cowardice. f Europe" gives a remarkable illustration of 
the cowardice of the wolf when caught in a trap. "A 
peasant near St. Petersburg," says Mr. Lloyd, "when one 
day in his sledge, was pursued by eleven of these ferocious 
animals. At this time he was only about two miles from 
home, towards which he urged his horse at the very top of 
his speed. At the entrance to his residence was a gate, which 
happened to be closed at the time; but the horse dashed 
this open, and thus himself and his master found refuge 
within the court-yard. They were followed, however, by 
nine out of the eleven wolves; but, very fortunately, at the 
instant these had entered the enclosure, the gate swung back 
on its hinges, and thus they were caught as in a trap. From 
being the most voracious of animals, the nature of these 
beasts — now that they found escape impossible — became com- 
pletely changed: so far, indeed, from offering molestation to 
any one, they slunk into holes and corners, and allowed 
themselves to be slaughtered almost without making resistance." 

Hunted by Many terrible stories are told of the depreda- 
Woives. tions caused by packs of wolves, especially in 



THE WOLF. 89 

Russia, and of the desperate adventures travellers have met 
with when attacked by them. The story of the Russian 
peasant, who, to save his master's family, leaped out of the 
sledge and faced the pack alone, thus delaying the wolves 
by his own self-sacrifice, while the sledge proceeded on its 
journey, is one of these. In contrast to this is the story of 
the Russian woman, given by Mr. Lloyd in the work already 
quoted. 
A Terrible A woman, accompanied by three of her children, 
Alternative. was one d a y j n a sledge, when they were pur- 
sued by a number of wolves. She put the horse into a 
gallop, and drove towards her home with the utmost speed. 
She was not far from it; but the ferocious animals gained 
upon her, and were on the point of rushing on to the sledge. 
For the preservation of her own life and that of the remaining 
children, the poor, frantic creature cast one of them to her 
bloodthirsty pursuers. This stopped their career for a moment; 
but, after devouring the poor child, they renewed the pursuit, 
and a second time came up with the vehicle. The mother, 
driven to desperation, resorted to the same horrible expedient, 
and threw another of her offspring to her ferocious assailants. 
The third child was also sacrificed in the same way, and 
soon after the wretched being reached her home in safety. 
Here she related what had happened, and endeavoured to 
palliate her own conduct by describing the dreadful alterna- 
tive to which she had been reduced. A peasant, however, 
who was among the bystanders, and heard the recital, took 
up an axe, and with one blow cleft her skull in two, saying 
at the same time, " that a mother who could thus sacrifice 
her children for the preservation of her own life, was no 
longer fit to live.' , The man was committed to prison, but 
the Emperor subsequently granted him a pardon. 
A Marvellous Equally terrible and more marvellous is the 
Escape, story of the adventure of a Russian family which 
took place as recently as the winter of 1894 — 5. A peasant 



go NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

was riding in a sleigh in company with his wife and child, 
when he became aware that they were being pursued by 
wolves. He urged the horses to their utmost speed but it 
soon became evident that the wolves would overtake them 
before they could reach a place of safety. Urged to des- 
peration, the peasant ordered his wife to throw the child to 
the wolves, hoping thereby to gain time and thus escape. 
The wife refused to part with her little one, whereupon an 
altercation ensued, during which the peasant tried to drag 
the child from her arms with a view to throwing it to the 
wolves himself. In the struggle both mother and child fell 
from the vehicle, and with a lightened load the horses, 
dashed forward at an even greater speed. For some ap- 
parently unaccountable reason, however, the wolves took no 
notice of the mother and child and continued to pursue the 
sleigh, possibly anticipating the larger meal that the horses 
would supply. In this they were not disappointed, for they 
succeeded in overtaking the sleigh, and the peasant and the 
horses fell victims to their ravage. In the meantime the mother 
and child found their way to a farm house where they were 
sheltered until danger was past. 

Tame Notwithstanding his natural fierceness, the 

Wolves. wo lf becomes tame under kindly treatment, and 
shows much affection for those who cherish him. Instances 
are common in which wolves have remembered their bene- 
factors, after years of absence, and have shown every demon- 
stration of joy on recognition. They have even been har- 
nessed and taught to draw carriages and to fulfil other useful 
offices. With wolves, as with many other animals, hunger 
and thirst are apparently the principal causes of savagery 
and the struggle for existence the main cause of rapacity and 
cruelty. 

The Cunning The cunning of the fox is proverbial and if 

of the Fox. on ]y one half of the stories told about him are 

true, there are quite sufficient to invest him with a degree of 



THE FOX. 91 

artfulness which is apparently unique. The extraordinary 
way in which he will feign himself dead, whether when 
hunting or being hunted, is a proof of this, as are also the 
various tricks he will resort to, to throw his pursuers off the 
scent. Captain Brown tells a story of a fox who leapt a 
high wall and crouched under it on the further side until 
the hounds had passed over, and then quietly returned, giving 
them the slip. Another fox who suadenly baffled two blood 
hounds who were in hot pursuit, was discovered lying full 
length upon a log of wood from which at first it was difficult 
to distinguish him. When feigning death he is said some- 
times to hold his breath and hang out his tongue. He will 
sometimes baffle his pursuers by hanging on to a branch of 
a tree. 

The Fox as a Mr. St. John tells the following story of the 
Hunter. f ox as a hunter: — 'Just after it was daylight 
I saw a large fox come very quietly along the edge of the 
plantation. He looked with great care over the turf wall 
into the field, and seemed to long very much to get hold of 
some of the hares that were feeding in it, but apparently 
knew that he had no chance of catching one by dint of 
running. After considering a short time, he seemed to have 
formed his plans, examined the different gaps in the wall, 
fixed upon one which appeared to be most frequented, and 
laid himself down close to it in an attitude like that of a cat 
at a mouse hole. In the meantime I watched all his plans. 
He then with great care and silence scraped a small hollow 
in the ground, throwing up the sand as a kind of screen. 
Every now and then, however, he stopped to listen, and 
sometimes to take a most cautious peep into the field. When 
he had done this, he laid himself down in a convenient 
posture for springing on his prey, and remained perfectly 
motionless, with the exception of an occasional reconnoitre 
of the feeding hares. When the sun began to rise, they 
came, one by one, from the field to the plantation: three 



92 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

had already come without passing by his ambush, one within 
twenty yards of him; but he made no movement beyond 
crouching still more flatly to the ground. Presently two came 
directly towards him, and though he did not venture to look 
up, I saw, by an involuntary motion of his ear, that those 
quick organs had already warned him of their approach. 
The two hares came through the gap together and the fox, 
springing with the quickness of lightning, caught one and 
killed her immediately; he then lifted up his booty and was 
carrying it off, when my rifle-ball stopped his course." 
A Fox Hunt. Captain Brown tells an amusing story of the 
resource shown by a fox who was hard pressed near 
Tamary, Ireland, which is as follows. "After a short chase, 
Reynard disappeared, having cunningly mounted a turf stack, 
on the top of which he lay down flat. Finding himself, at 
last, perceived by one of the hounds, he left his retreat, 
closely pursued by the pack, ran up a stone wall, from which 
he sprang on the roof of an adjoining cabin, and mounted 
to the chimney-top. From that elevated situation he looked 
all around him, as if carefully reconnoitring the coming 
enemy. A cunning old hound approached, and, having 
gained the summit of the roof, had already seized the fox 
in imagination, when, lo ! Reynard dropped down the chimney, 
like a fallen star into a draw-well. The dog looked wist- 
fully down the dark opening, but dared not pursue the fugitive. 
Meantime, whilst the hound was eagerly inspecting the 
smoky orifice of the chimney, Reynard, half enrobed in soot, 
had fallen into the lap of an old woman, who, surrounded 
by a number of children, was gravely smoking her pipe, not 
at all expecting the entrance of this abrupt visitor. c Emiladh 
deouil!' said the affrighted female, as she threw from her 
the black and red quadruped : Reynard grinned, growled, 
and showed his fangs; and when the sportsmen, who had 
secured the door, entered, they found him in possession of 
the kitchen, the old woman and the children having retired, 



WILD DOGS. 93 

in terror of the invader, to a corner of the room. The fox 
was taken alive." 

The Arctic The Arctic Fox which is of a beautiful white 
Fox - colour is found, according to Captain James Ross, 
in the highest northern latitudes, even in the winter. In the 
late autumn the younger generation make their way south 
and congregate in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, 
returning north in the early spring of the following year. They 
are gregarious, living in companies in burrows in sandy places. 

Wild Dogs. Wild dogs abound in various parts of the world, 
of which the Dingos of Australia, the Dholes of India and 
the Aguaras of South America are examples. The wild dogs 
of the East are familiar to all readers of Eastern travels. A 
writer in the Times newspaper describes the dogs of Con- 
stantinople, as " omnipresent, lawless, yet perfectly harmless 
dogs," which perform valuable but ill requited service as 
scavengers of the city. He says: — "In shape, in counte- 
nance, in language, in their bandy legs, pointed noses, pricked 
up ears, dirty yellow coats, and bushy tails, they could be 
hunted as foxes in Gloucestershire. They are," he continues, 
" up and doing from sunset to sunrise, and enjoy the refresh- 
ment of well-earned, profound sleep almost throughout the 
day. They are not only homeless and masterless but have 
also a sovereign contempt for bed or shelter. There is a time 
it would seem, when sleep comes upon them — all of them — 
like sudden death; when all squat down, coil themselves up, 
nose to tail, wherever they chance to be— on the footpath, 
in the carriage way, in the gutter — and there lie in the 
sunshine, in the pelting rain, yellow bundles, hardly distin- 
guishable from the mud. The Constantinople dog never 
learns to wag his tail; he never makes up, never looks up 
to a human being, never encourages or even notices men's 
advances. He is not exactly sullen, or cowed, or mistrust- 
ful; he is simply cold and distant as an Englishman is said 
to be when not introduced." 



94 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

"The Dingo, the wild dog of Australia," says Mrs. Bowdich 
"roams in packs through that vast country; has a broad 
head; fierce oblique eyes; acute muzzle; short, pointed, 
erect ears; tail bushy, and never raised to more than a 
horizontal position. He does not bark, but howls fearfully; is 
extremely sagacious, and has a remarkable power of bearing 
pain. When beaten so severely as to be left for dead, 
he has been seen to get up and run away. A man pro- 
ceeded to skin one, not doubting that life was extinct, 
and after proceeding a little way with the operation, he 
left the hut to sharpen his knife. When he returned, the 
poor animal was sitting up, with the loose skin hanging over 
one side of his face." The Dhole of India, similarly hunts in 
packs, attacking and destroying even the tiger. Their sense 
of smell is very acute, their bark similar to that of a hound, 
their colour red or sandy. They have long heads, oblique 
eyes, long erect ears; and very powerful limbs. The Aguaras 
of South America, says Mrs. Bowdich, resemble foxes. " They 
are silent if not dumb, and appear to congregate in families 
rather than packs. They have a peculiar propensity to steal 
and secrete without any apparent object in so doing." 

The Dog. The dog divides with the horse the honour of 
being the most intimate and devoted of the servants of 
mankind. " His origin, " says Mr. Jesse " is lost in antiquity. 
We find him occupying a place in the earliest pagan worship; 
his name has been given to one of the first-mentioned stars 
of the heavens, and his effigy may be seen in some of the 
most ancient works of art. Pliny was of opinion that there 
was no domestic animal without its unsubdued counterpart, 
and dogs are known to exist absolutely wild in various parts 
of the old and new world." Whether the dog of civilization 
is a descendant of these wild dogs, or whether the wild dog 
is the progeny of domestic varieties relapsed into a condition 
of savagery, and whether both are descended from the wolf 
and the jackal has often been discussed. Certain it is that 



DOMESTIC DOGS. 95 

many of the species which now obtain are in certain charac- 
teristics at least the result of artificial breeding. In its do- 
mestic state, the dog is remarkable for its usefulness, obedience, 
and attachment to its master; and the great variety of breeds 
that are trained and educated for our benefit or amusement, 
are almost too numerous to be mentioned. The principal 
are, the greyhound, noted for his speed; the Newfoundland 
dog, remarkable for his size, sagacity, and benevolence; the 
shepherd's dog, perhaps the most useful of all; the spaniel, the 
barbel, and the setter, useful in hunting; the pointer, the 
staunchest of all dogs; the Dalmatian or coach-dog, with a 
skin beautifully spotted; the terrier, useful for destroying ver- 
min; the blood-hound, formerly used for tracing criminals; the 
harrier, beagle, and foxhound, distinguished for their quick 
sense of smell; and the bull-dog, and mastiff, which are our 
watch -dogs. 

The Dog's Un- Many marvellous instances are on record of the 
derstanding. dog's capacity for understanding not only the 
direct commands of his master, to which of course he may 
be easily trained, but also, sometimes, the drift of conver- 
sations in which his master may engage. 

The Rev. James Simpson of Edinburgh had a fine New- 
foundland dog of w r hich some good stories are told. On one 
occasion, however, Mr. Simpson happening to remark to a 
friend in the dog's hearing that, as he was about to change 
his residence, he would have to part with his dog, the dog 
took the hint, left the house and was never heard of again. 
Sheep dogs have been known to take very apparent interest 
in conversations upon the subject of their profession, and to 
anticipate the word of command by their perception of the 
drift of the remarks. Mr. St. John, in his " Highland Sports ", 
gives a remarkable illustration of the way in which a shepherd's 
dog understood the conversation of his master: — "A shepherd 
once, to prove the quickness of his dog, who was lying before 
the fire in the house where we were talking, said to me, in the 



9 6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

middle of a sentence concerning something else, ' I'm think- 
ing, sir, the cow is in the potatoes.' Though he purposely 
laid no stress on these words, and said them in a quiet, 
unconcerned tone of voice, the dog, who appeared to be 
asleep, immediately jumped up, and leaping through the 
open window, scrambled up the turf roof of the house, from 
which he could see the potato field. He then (not seeing 
the cow there) ran and looked into the byre, where she was, 
and finding that all was right, came back to the house. 
After a short time the shepherd said the same words again, 
and the dog repeated his look-out; but on the false alarm 
being a third time given, the dog got up, and wagging his 
tail, looked his master in the face with so comical an expres- 
sion of interrogation, that we could not help laughing aloud 
at him, on which, with a slight growl, he laid himself down 
in his warm corner, with an offended air, as if determined 
not to be made a fool of again." 

The well known story of Sir Walter Scott's dog, supplied 
by him to Captain Brown, is another illustration. " The 
wisest dog I ever had," said Sir Walter, " was what is called 
the bull-dog terrier. I taught him to understand a great 
many words, insomuch that I am positive that the commu- 
nication betwixt the canine species and ourselves might be 
greatly enlarged. Camp once bit the baker, who was bring- 
ing bread to the family. I beat him, and explained the 
enormity of his offence; after which, to the last moment of 
his life, he never heard the least allusion to the story, in 
whatever voice or tone it was mentioned, without getting up 
and retiring into the darkest corner of the room, with great 
appearance of distress. Then if you said, 'the baker was 
well paid,' or, 'the baker was not hurt after all,' Camp came 
forth from his hiding-place, capered, and barked, and rejoiced. 
When he was unable, towards the end of his life, to attend 
me when on horseback, he used to watch for my return, 
and the servant would tell him ' his master was coming down 



THE DOG'S SENSE OF LOCALITY. 97 

the hill, or through the moor, 5 and although he did not use 
any gesture to explain his meaning, Camp was never known 
to mistake him, but either went out at the front to go up 
the hill, or at the back to get down to the moor-side. He 
certainly had a singular knowledge of spoken language." 

One of the most remarkable illustrations of the dog's 
capacity for understanding is probably that given by Mrs. 
Bowdich, as follows: 

" Professor Owen was walking with a friend, by the side 
of a river, near its mouth, on the coast of Cornwall, and 
picked up a small piece of sea-weed. It was covered with 
minute animals; and Mr. Owen observed to his companion, 
throwing the weed into the water, ' If this small piece affords 
so many treasures, how microscopically rich the whole plant 
must be ! I should much like to have one.' The gentle- 
men walked on, but hearing a splashing in the water, turned 
round, and saw it violently agitated. ' It is Lion ! ' both 
exclaimed; 'what can he be about? He was walking quietly 
enough by our side a minute ago.' At one moment they 
saw his tail above the water, then his head raised for a 
breath of air, then the surrounding element shook again, 
and at last he came ashore, panting from his exertions, and 
laid a whole plant of the identical weed at Mr. Owen's feet. 
After this proof of intelligence, it will not be wondered at, 
that when Lion was joyfully expecting to accompany his 
master and his guest on an excursion, and was told to go 
and take care of and comfort Mrs. Owen, who was ill, he 
should immediately return to the drawing-room and lay him- 
self by her side, which he never left during the absence of 
his owner, his countenance alone betraying his disappoint- 
ment, and that only for a few minutes." 
The Dog's Sense Dogs have a remarkable sense of locality, 

of Locality. an( j w [[\ fi nc [ their way to a spot they have 
once visited with an unerring instinct under circumstances 
which make it impossible for them to rely entirely upon their 

7 



98 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

sense of scent. Some of the stories told of the extraordinary 
journeys made by dogs, apparently without anything to guide 
them but their natural instinct, seem almost incredible. 

Captain Brown tells a story of a gentleman of Glasgow, who 
was unfortunately drowned in the river Oder while bathing 
during a continental tour. A Newfoundland dog, who was his 
travelling companion, made every effort to save him, but 
failing to do so, found his way either to Frankfort, or Ham- 
burgh, where he went on board a vessel bound for England, 
from which he landed somewhere on the coast, finding his 
way ultimately to the person from whom he had been origin- 
ally purchased, and who lived near Holyrood palace. 

Another dog who, on arriving in England from Newfound- 
land, was given to a gentleman in London, was sent by him 
to a friend in Scotland, by water. The dog, however, made 
his escape and found his way back to his old master at Fish 
Street Hill, London, though as Mr. Jesse puts it "in so 
exhausted a state that he could only express his joy at seeing 
his master and then die." 

This instinct seems to be common to many varieties of 
dogs. Captain Brown tells of a Dalmatian or coach-dog 
which Lord Maynard lost in France, and which he found 
at his house on his return to England, though how it 
had got there he never could trace. It is not necessary, 
says Captain Brown, that the dog shall have previously 
travelled the ground by which it returns. A person who 
went by sea from. Aberdeen to Leith, lost his dog at the 
latter place, and found it on his return at Aberdeen. It must 
have travelled over a country unknown to it, and have crossed 
the firths of Forth and Tay. 

Illustrations might easily be multiplied. Mr. Jesse tells of 
a dog which was presented to the Captain of a collier by a 
gentleman residing at Wivenhoe in Essex and which on being 
landed at Sunderland found its way back to its old master, 
and also of a spaniel belonging to Colonel Hardy which after 



DOG FRIENDSHIPS AND ENMITIES. 99 

accompanying him from Essex to Bath in a post chaise, found 
its way back through London, a distance of 140 miles in 
three days. 

Perhaps a more remarkable instance is that recorded of his 
dog by M. d'Obsonville. This animal accompanied his master 
and a friend from Pondicherry to Bengalore, a distance of 
more than nine hundred miles. M. D'Obsonville says, "Our 
journey occupied nearly three weeks ; and we had to traverse 
plains and mountains, and to ford rivers, and go along by- 
paths. The animal, which had certainly never been in that 
country before, lost us at Bengalore, and immediately returned 
to Pondicherry. He went directly to the house of my friend, 
M. Beglier, then commandant of artillery, and with whom I 
had generally lived. Now, the difficulty is not so much to 
know how the dog subsisted on the road (for he was very 
strong, and able to procure himself food), but how he should 
so well have found his way after an interval of more than a 
month ! This was an effort of memory greatly superior to 
that which the human race is capable of exerting." 
Dog Friendships That dogs make very strong friendships 

and Enmities, among themselves is attested by many an 
affecting story. A Radnorshire lady, who married and went 
to reside in Yorkshire, afterwards paid a visit to her old 
home where her father, before her marriage, had kept two or 
three sheep-dogs of whom she was very fond. Having retired 
from business, her father had disposed of all but one dog, 
and upon her arrival this one met the lady with every 
demonstration of delight and, that same night, went a distance 
of seven miles to a farmhouse where one of the other dogs 
who had become blind, then lived. In the morning when 
the lady went to the door she saw not only the dog which 
had given her such a glad reception on the previous day, but 
also the old blind one, which had evidently been brought 
by the other dog to welcome her. When the second night 
came the old blind dog was taken back to its home by the 



IOO NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

same dog, which afterwards returned, having travelled a dis- 
tance of twenty-eight miles to give pleasure to his old blind 
friend. 

Instances might easily be multiplied but we must con- 
tent ourselves with one of a very different character from 
Colonel Hamilton Smith's "Cyclopaedia of Natural History." 
" In the neighbourhood of Cupar, in the county of Fife, there 
lived two dogs, mortal enemies to each other, and who always 

fought desperately whenever they met. Capt. R was the 

master of one of them, and the other belonged to a neigh- 
bouring farmer. Capt. R 's dog was in the practice of 

going messages, and even of bringing butchers' meat and 
other articles from Cupar. One day, while returning, charged 
with a basket containing some pieces of mutton, he was 
attacked by some of the curs of the town, who, no doubt, 
thought the prize worth contending for. The assault was 
fierce, and of some duration ; but the messenger, after doing 
his utmost, was at last overpowered and compelled to yield 
up the basket, though not before he had secured a part of 
its contents. The piece saved from the wreck he ran off 
with, at full speed, to the quarters of his old enemy, at 
whose feet he laid it down, stretching himself beside it till 
he had eaten it up. A few snuffs, a few whispers in the ear, 
and other dog-like courtesies, were then exchanged; after 
which they both set off together for Cupar, where they 
worried almost every dog in the town ; and, what is more 
remarkable, they never afterwards quarrelled, but were always 
on friendly terms." This story also illustrates another char- 
acteristic of the dog family. Dogs combine for purposes of 
offence and defence. Cats stand or fall alone. 

Dog The foregoing is also a proof of the faculty by 

Language. which animals can communicate their ideas to 
each other which in dogs is particularly remarkable. There 
are many curious anecdotes recorded, illustrative of this 
faculty. " At Horton, England, about the year 1818, a gentle- 



THE DOG'S INTELLIGENCE. IOI 

man from London took possession of a house, the former 
tenant of which had moved to a farm about half a mile off. 
The new inmate brought with him a large French poodle 
dog, to take the duty of watchman, in the place of a fine 
Newfoundland dog, which went away with his master; but 
a puppy of the same breed was left behind, and he was 
instantly persecuted by the poodle. As the puppy grew up, 
the persecution still continued. At length, he was one day 
missing for some hours; but he did not come back alone; 
he returned with his old friend, the large house-dog, to 
whom he had made a communication; and in an instant 
the two fell upon the unhappy poodle, and killed him before 
he could be rescued from their fury. In this case, the 
injuries of the young dog must have been made known to 
his friend ; a plan of revenge concerted ; and the determina- 
tion to carry that plan into effect formed and executed with 
equal promptitude. The following story, which illustrates, 
even in a more singular manner, the communication of ideas 
between dogs, was told by a clergyman, as an authentic 
anecdote. A surgeon of Leeds found a little spaniel who 
had been lamed. He carried the poor animal home, ban- 
daged up his leg, and, after two or three days, turned him 
out. The dog returned to the surgeon's house every morn- 
ing, till his leg was perfectly well. At the end of several 
months, the spaniel again presented himself, in company with 
another dog, who had also been lamed; and he intimated, 
as well as piteous and intelligent looks could intimate, that 
he desired the same kind assistance to be rendered to his 
friend, as had been bestowed upon himself. A similar cir- 
cumstance is stated to have occurred to Moraut, a celebrated 
French surgeon." 
The Dog's Many instances have been chronicled of the 
InteUigence. actions of dogs, which seem clearly the result 
of a process of reasoning. Mr. Jesse tells of a dog who was 
sent to fetch two hats w r hich had been left lying upon the 



102 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

grass. After several unsuccessful attempts to carry the two 
together in his mouth, he laid them on the ground, placed 
the smaller within the larger, pressed it down with his foot, 
and then easily carried them to his master. Instances are 
recorded of dogs who while always ready to perform a 
useful service, absolutely refused to act for the amusement 
of on-lookers or to discharge unnecessary duties. Thus a 
dog who would go into the water to retrieve a wild duck 
would refuse to fetch anything that had been thrown in for 
the purpose of displaying his agility, and another who was 
accustomed to ring the servants' bell at the bidding of his mistress 
refused to do so when told while the servant was in the 
room, and if repeatedly commanded to do so, would lay 
hold of the servant's coat and attempt to drag him to his 
mistress. These illustrations seem to show a power of dis- 
crimination not usually credited to animals. Of the intelligence 
shown by dogs which have been trained, the following story 
from the " Percy Anecdotes " is at once a remarkable and an 
amusing illustration. " One day, when Dumont, a tradesman 
of the Rue St. Denis, was walking in the Boulevard St. An- 
toine with a friend, he offered to lay a wager with the latter, 
that if he were to hide a six-livre piece in the dust, his dog 
would discover and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, 
and the piece of money secreted, after being carefully 
marked. When the two had proceeded some distance from 
the spot, M. Dumont called to his dog that he had lost 
something, and ordered him to seek it. Caniche immediately 
turned back, and his master and his companion pursued 
their walk to the Rue St. Denis. Meanwhile a traveller, 
who happened to be just then returning in a small chaise 
from Vincennes, perceived the piece of money, which his 
horse had kicked from its hiding-place; he alighted, took it 
up, and drove to his inn, in the Rue Pont-aux-Choux. 
Caniche had just reached the spot in search of the lost 
piece when the stranger picked it up. He followed the 



THE DOG'S INTELLIGENCE. 1 03 

chaise, went into the inn, and stuck close to the traveller. 
Having scented out the coin which he had been ordered 
to bring back in the pocket of the latter, he leaped up 
incessantly at and about him. The traveller, supposing him 
to be some dog that had been lost or left behind by his 
master, regarded his different movements as marks of fond- 
ness; and as the animal was handsome, he determined to 
keep him. He gave him a good supper, and on retiring 
to bed took him with him to his chamber. No sooner had 
he pulled off his breeches, than they were seized by the 
dog; the owner conceiving that he wanted to play with 
them, took them away again. The animal began to bark 
at the door, which the traveller opened, under the idea 
that the dog wanted to go out. Caniche snatched up the 
breeches, and away he flew. The traveller posted after 
him with his night- cap on, and literally sans culottes. Anxiety 
for the fate of a purse full of gold Napoleons, of forty 
francs each, which was in one of the pockets, gave redoubled 
velocity to his steps. Caniche ran full speed to his master's 
house, where the stranger arrived a moment afterwards 
breathless and enraged. He accused the dog of robbing him. 
'Sir,' said the master, 'my dog is a very faithful creature; 
and if he has run away with your breeches, it is because 
you have in them money which does not belong to you.' 
The traveller became still more exasperated. ' Compose your- 
self, sir,' rejoined the other, smiling; 'without doubt there 
is in your purse a six-livre piece, with such and such 
marks, which you have picked up in the Boulevard St. Antoine, 
and which I threw down there with the firm conviction that 
my dog would bring it back again. This is the cause of 
the robbery which he has committed upon you. ' The 
stranger's rage now yielded to astonishment; he delivered 
the six-livre piece to the owner, and could not forbear 
caressing the dog which had given him so much uneasiness, 
and such an unpleasant chase." 



104 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Dogs' That dogs sometimes make mistakes in the 

Mistakes, exercise of their intelligence, with somewhat lu- 
dicrous results, is of course true. A dog once accompanied 
a gentleman's servant to a tailor's with a coat of his master's 
which needed repair. Having his suspicions with regard to 
the transaction, the dog watched his opportunity, seized the 
coat from the counter and carried it back with evident satis- 
faction to his master. Another dog caused great amusement 
at a swimming match by insisting upon the rescue of one of the 
competitors. Dogs have also been known to cause both 
amusement and consternation by leaping upon the stage to 
rescue the defenceless characters of the melodrama from the 
hands of the heavy villain of the play. The story of the dog who 
failed to recognise his master who had been bathing, and who 
therefore refused to allow him to have his clothes, is pro- 
bably apochryphal, but if true is another illustration of the 
awkwardness of dogs' mistakes. 
The Eskimo Colonel Hamilton Smith in his classification of 

■ Dog * dogs begins with those which belong nearest to 
the arctic circle, and it will be convenient to follow his order 
in so far as space will allow. Speaking of the Eskimo 
dog Captain Lyon says: — "Having myself possessed during 
our hard winter a team of eleven fine dogs, I was enabled 
to become better acquainted with their good qualities than 
could possibly have been the case by the casual visits of the 
Esquimaux to the ships. The form of the Esquimaux dog 
is very similar to that of our shepherd's dog in England, but 
it is more muscular and broad-chested, owing to the constant 
and severe work to which he is brought up. His ears are 
pointed, and the aspect of the head is somewhat savage. 
In size a fine dog about the height of the Newfoundland 
breed, but broad like a mastiff in every part except the nose. 
The hair of the coat is in summer, as well as in winter, very 
long, but during the cold season a soft, downy under-covering 
is found, which does not appear in warm weather. Young 



THE ESKIMO DOG. 105 

dogs are put into harness as soon as they can walk, and 
being tied up, soon acquire a habit of pulling, in their attempts 
to recover their liberty, or to roam in quest of their mother. 
When about two months old, they are put into the sledge 
with the grown dogs, and sometimes eight or ten little ones 
are under the charge of some steady old animal, where, with 
frequent and sometimes severe beatings, they soon receive a 
competent education. Every dog is distinguished by a partic- 
ular name, and the angry repetition of it has an effect as 
instantaneous as an application of the whip, which instrument 
is of an immense length, having a lash from eighteen to 
twenty-four feet, while the handle is one foot only; with this, 
by throwing it on one side or the other of the leader, and 
repeating certain words, the animals are guided or stopped. 
When the sledge is stopped they are all taught to lie down, 
by throwing the whip gently over their backs, and they will 
remain in this position even for hours, until their master 
returns to them. A walrus is frequently drawn along by three 
or four of these dogs, and seals are sometimes carried home 
in the same manner, though I have in some instances seen 
a dog bring home the greater part of a seal in panniers 
placed across his back. Cold has very little effect on them; 
for although the dogs at the huts slept within the snow pas- 
sages, mine at the ships had no shelter, but lay alongside, 
with the thermometer at 42 ° and 44 °, and with as little 
concern as if the weather had been mild. I found, by several 
experiments, that three of my dogs could draw me on a 
sledge, weighing one hundred pounds, at the rate of one mile 
in six minutes ; and as a proof of the strength of a well-grown 
dog, my leader drew one hundred and ninety-six pounds 
singly, and to the same distance, in eight minutes. At another 
time seven of my dogs ran a mile in four minutes, drawing 
a heavy sledge full of men. Afterwards, in carrying stores 
to the Fury, one mile distant, nine dogs drew one thousand 
six hundred and eleven pounds in the space of nine minutes. 



106 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

When the dogs slackened their pace, the sight of a seal or 
bird was sufficient to put them instantly to their full speed ; 
and even though none of these might be seen on the ice, 
the cry of f a seal!' — 'a bear!' — or 'a bird!' &c, was 
enough to give play to the legs and voices of the whole pack. 
The voice and long whip answer all the purposes of reins, 
and the dogs can be made to turn a corner as dexterously 
as horses, though not in such an orderly manner, since they 
are constantly fighting ; and I do not recollect to have seen 
one receive a flogging without instantly wreaking his passion 
on the ears of his neighbours. The cries of the men are 
not more melodious than those of the animals ; and their 
wild looks and gestures when animated, give them an appear- 
ance of devils driving wolves before them. Our dogs had 
eaten nothing for forty-eight hours, and could not have gone 
over less than seventy miles of ground ; yet they returned, 
to all appearance, as fresh and active as when they first 
set out." 

A Hard Lot. The unhappy condition of the Eskimo dogs 
under native treatment is pathetically referred to in " Cassell's 
Natural History," edited by Professor Duncan. The writer 
says " the horrible savagery of those poor wretches can hardly 
be wondered at; they live in a country where there is hardly 
a chance for them in any independent foraging expedition; 
they are half-starved by their masters, being fed chiefly on 
frozen walrus hides in the winter, and allowed to shift for 
themselves in the summer when their services are not required, 
and are in so perennial and acute a state of hunger that 
they are ready at any time to eat their own harness if 
allowed to do so. It is generally stated that they are per- 
fectly insensible to kindness, and only to be kept in order 
by a liberal application of the lash, or even of a more 
formidable weapon; for the Eskimo, if their dogs are re- 
fractory, do not scruple to beat them about the head with 
a hammer, or anything else of sufficient hardness which 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 1 07 

happens to be at hand. They will even beat the poor 
brutes in this horrible manner until they are actually stunned. 
Notwithstanding the absolute dependence of the Eskimo on 
their dogs, little or no care is taken of them ; they receive 
nothing in any degree approaching petting, and spend all 
their time in the open air. The chief use of the Eskimo 
dog is to draw the sledges, which are the only possible 
conveyances in that frozen land. In all the Arctic expedi- 
tions which have been sent out at various times, a good 
supply of sledge dogs has been one of the greatest desiderata, 
as without them it would be absolutely impossible to proceed 
far. No other animal would answer the purpose, both horses 
and cattle being quite useless in journeys over ice and snow, 
amongst which the pack of light, active dogs make their 
way with wonderful ease and safety." The Siberian dogs 
render equally valuable services to their masters with about 
an equal measure of appreciation. 

The Newfound- The dog known as the Newfoundland dog 
land Dog. i s one f the handsomest and best beloved 
of the dog family. He is distinct from the Labrador dog, 
which is more slender in make, has a sharper muzzle and 
is generally " black in colour with a tawny nose and a rusty 
spot over each eye". The Labrador dog and the Eskimo 
have been credited with the parentage of the Newfoundland 
species. At home the Newfoundland is made useful for the 
purpose of drawing loads, being harnessed to small carts 
and sleighs for carrying wood and other commodities. 
Abroad like the prophet who "is not without honour save 
in his own country", he has been found capable and worthy of 
much more honourable service, and his fidelity and sagacity 
have won for him universal esteem. He is an expert swimmer, 
his feet being webbed and so peculiarly adapted for the 
exercise. He takes to the water as though it were his natural 
element, and has so often carried the line to sinking ships, 
and rescued persons about to drown that such incidents 



K)8 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

have become quite common. The tribute paid to him by 
Sir Edwin Landseer, when he named his famous picture of 
him "a distinguished member of the humane society", was 
no more poetical than just. Volumes might be filled with 
stories of his intelligence and prowess, and it is difficult within 
present limits to select a due variety of characteristic anecdotes. 
The Newfound- One of the most marked characteristics of 
land's Generosity, the Newfoundland dog is his generosity to a 
fallen foe. His temper is said to be uncertain, though this 
has been questioned by some who have had large experience 
of him under varying circumstances. Be this as it may, 
there are many stories told to his honour of his generosity 
to his enemies in the moment of victory. A Newfoundland 
dog, who had for some time treated with becoming dignity 
the impudence of some mongrels who were amusing them- 
selves by snapping and snarling at his heels, suddenly turned 
and sent the crowd of persecutors flying in all directions, 
except the ringleader, who fell sprawling in the middle of 
the street, where he was about to receive the punishment he 
deserved when a cable car came dashing down the hill, right 
upon the dogs. The big dog saw the danger at once and 
sprang aside, but his enemy remained upon his back, too 
terrified to notice anything. The Newfoundland took in the 
situation, in a moment sprang back in front of the car, seized 
the cur in his teeth, and snatched him, still whining and 
begging for mercy, out of the very jaws of death. Laying 
him in the gutter, he gave a good-natured wag or two of his 
tail and went his way. Another Newfoundland much bothered 
by a small cur who was for ever barking at his heels, but 
who treated his assailant with sublime indifference, was on 
one occasion aroused to adopt drastic measures by receiving 
a bite on his leg. Seizing the cur by the loose skin of his 
back he carried him down to the quay of Cork and after 
letting him dangle over the water for a little while, dropped 
him into it. After watching the animal struggle with the 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 109 

water until nearly exhausted, the Newfoundland plunged in 
and rescued him. Mr. Jesse gives a fine illustration of this 
canine chivalry, witnessed at Donaghadee. "The one dog 
in this case was also a Newfoundland, and the other was a 
mastiff. They were both powerful dogs ; and though each 
was good-natured when alone, they were very much in the 
habit of fighting when they met. One day they had a fierce 
and prolonged battle on the pier, from the point of which 
they both fell into the sea ; and as the pier was long and 
steep, they had no means of escape but by swimming a con- 
siderable distance. Throwing water upon fighting dogs is an 
approved means of putting an end to their hostilities ; and 
it is natural to suppose that two combatants of the same 
species tumbling themselves into the sea would have the same 
effect. It had ; and each began to make for the land as best 
he could. The Newfoundland being an excellent swimmer, 
very speedily gained the pier, on which he stood shaking 
himself; but at the same time watching the motions of his 
late antagonist, which, being no swimmer, was struggling 
exhausted in the water, and just about to sink. In dashed 
the Newfoundland dog, took the other gently by the collar, 
kept his head above water, and brought him safely on shore. 
There was a peculiar kind of recognition between the two 
animals; they never fought again; they were always together: 
and when the Newfoundland dog had been accidentally 
killed by the passage of a stone waggon on the railway over 
him, the other languished and evidently lamented for a 
long time." 
The Hew- The quickness with which the Newfoundland 
Perception w ^ reanse tne danger of a situation and the 
of Danger, promptitude with which he will devise a remedy, 
make him in some cases a more valuable friend in need 
than a man could be. Human aid would have probably 
been too slow in the following case related by Mr. Jesse. 
"In the city of Worchester, one of the principal streets 



HO NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

leads by a gentle declivity to the river Severn. One day a 
child, in crossing the street, fell down in the middle of it 
and a horse and cart, which was descending the hill, w r ould 
have passed over it, had not a Newfoundland dog rushed 
to the rescue of the child, caught it up in his mouth, and 
conveyed it in safety to the foot pavement." 

The promptitude with which he will leap into the water to 
save the drowning, without waiting for any word of command, 
is another illustration of this faculty. Another case related by 
Mr. Jesse may be quoted. "In the year 1841, as a labourer, 
named Rake, in the parish of Botley, near Southampton, 
was at work in a gravel-pit, the top stratum gave way, and 
he was buried up to his neck by the great quantity of gravel 
which fell upon him. He was at the same time so much 
hurt, two of his ribs being broken, that he found it impos- 
sible to make any attempt to extricate himself from his 
perilous situation. Indeed, nothing could be more fearful 
than the prospect before him. No one was within hearing 
of his cries, nor was any one likely to come near the spot. 
He must almost inevitably have perished, had it not been 
for a Newfoundland dog belonging to his employer. This 
animal had been watching the man at his work for some 
days, as if he had been aware that his assistance would be 
required; for no particular attachment to each other had 
been exhibited on either side. As soon, however, as the 
accident occurred, the dog jumped into the pit, and com- 
menced removing the gravel with his paws; and this he did 
in so vigorous and expeditious a manner, that the poor man 
was at length able to liberate himself, though with extreme 
difficulty. What an example of kindness, sensibility, and I 
may add reason, does this instance afford us!" 

Mr. Youatt gives a remarkable illustration, also quoted by 
Mr. Jesse, of a Newfoundland's apparent perception of danger 
of quite another sort. Finding it inconvenient to keep this 
animal Mr. Youatt had given it to a friend, and four years passed 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. Ill 

before the dog saw his late owner again, when they met 
quite by chance, the two masters and the dog, on a lonely 
road between Wandsworth and Kingston. The dog showed 
every sign of pleasure at meeting his old master, but when 
they parted faithfully followed the new. Mr. Youatt had 
not proceeded far, however, when he discovered that the dog 
had rejoined him and was walking at his side, growling and 
showing every sign of anger. Looking ahead he discovered 
two men approaching him stealthily from behind the bushes 
that skirted the road. " I can scarcely say," says Mr. Youatt, 
"what I felt; for presently one of the scoundrels emerged 
from the bushes, not twenty yards from me; but he no 
sooner saw my companion, and heard his growling, the 
loudness and depth of which were fearfully increasing, than 
he retreated, and I saw no more of him or of his associate. 
My gallant defender accompanied me to the direction-post 
at the bottom of the hill, and there, with many a mutual 
and honest greeting, we parted, and he bounded away to 
overtake his rightful owner. We never met again; but I 
need not say that I often thought of him with admiration 
and gratitude." 

The Newfound- ^ num b er of well authenticated stories, seem 
land's Sense of to indicate a certain sense of right and wrong 
Right and Wrong. as characteristic of the more intelligent dogs; 
of course the idea of right and wrong being in the case of 
animals as in the case of men, largely a matter of education. 
The Newfoundland dog belonging to the Rev. J. Simpson of 
Potterow Church, Edinburgh, already referred to, on one 
occasion detained a party of friends which had been enter- 
tained by the servants during their master's absence at church, 
by stationing himself in front of the hall door and preventing 
their egress until the rev. gentleman's return. Another New- 
foundland dog who belonged to a grocer, and who had seen 
a porter hide money behind a heap of rubbish in a stable, — 
money which he had surreptitiously abstracted from the till, — 



112 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

followed an apprentice into the stable on the first opportunity, 
and scratching away the rubbish exposed the money to view, 
thus leading to the detection of the thief. It is of course 
easy to claim too much for actions apparently so intelligent 
and in estimating them coincidence has to be allowed for; 
but they are far too numerous to be ignored in estimating 
canine character. An instance is recorded of a quiet docile 
dog who refused to allow a visitor to leave a stable, when 
it was discovered that the man had secreted a bridle in his 
pocket. 

The Newfound- Many illustrations might be given of the 
land's Fidelity, fidelity which the Newfoundland shows in 
common with other dogs, but one or two must suffice. A 
story is told of a dog who picked up a coin which his 
master had dropped from his purse, and which he kept in 
his mouth all day, refusing food until his master's return 
in the evening, when he laid it at his feet, and then attacked 
his dinner voraciously; another of a dog who on being sent 
home by his master with a key which he had inadvertently 
taken with him, was attacked by a dog belonging to a butcher, 
but who declined the combat until he had delivered the 
key, but immediately returned and attacking the butcher's 
dog killed him. In the first case the dog suffered the natural 
pangs of hunger rather than hazard his master's property, and 
in the second he postponed the gratification of his natural 
feeling of revenge until after the execution of his duty. 
The Newfound- The tricks to which dogs can be trained, 
land under though often amusing enough, have not the 
Training. interest w r hich attaches to the natural display 
of their faculties, and yet of course there is plenty of scope 
for the trained dog to supplement his culture by the exercise 
of his natural gifts, and this he often does. Perhaps one of 
the most remarkable of trained Newfoundland dogs, was the 
one possessed by Mr. Mclntyre of Regent Bridge, Edinburgh. 
This dog was trained to perform all kinds of tricks. He 



THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 113 

would pick his master's hat out from a number of others 
of the same kind, or indeed almost any article of his master's 
from a group of similar articles. He would ring the bell to 
summon the servants, and if there was no bell rope in the 
room, find and use the hand bell with equal facility. A 
comb was hidden on the top of a mantel-piece in the room, 
and the dog required to bring it, which he almost immediately 
did, although in the search he found a number of articles 
also belonging to his master, purposely strewed around, all of 
which he passed over, and brought the identical comb which 
he was required to find, fully proving that he was not guided 
by the sense of smell, but that he perfectly understood what 
was spoken to him. One evening some gentlemen being 
in company, one of them accidentally dropped a shilling on 
the floor, which, after the most careful search, could not be 
found. Mr. M. seeing his dog sitting in a corner, and looking 
as if quite unconscious of what was passing, said to him, 
"Dandie, find us the shilling and you shall have a biscuit." 
The dog immediately jumped upon the table and laid down 
the shilling, which he had previously picked up without 
having been perceived. Mr. M. having one evening supped 
with a friend, on his return home could not find his boot- 
jack in the place where it usually lay. He then said to his 
dog, "Dandie, I cannot find my boot-jack, — search for it." 
The faithful animal, quite sensible of what had been said 
to him, scratched at the room-door, which his master 
opened. Dandie proceeded to a very distant part of the 
house, and returned carrying in his mouth the boot-jack, 
which Mr. M. then recollected to have left that morning 
under a sofa. A number of gentlemen, well acquainted 
with Dandie, were daily in the habit of giving him a penny 
which he took to a baker's shop and purchased bread for 
himself. One of these gentlemen, who lived in James' Square, 
when passing was accosted by Dandie, in expectation of his 
usual present. Mr. T. said to him, "I have not a penny 



114 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

with me to-day, but I have one at home." Having returned 
to his house some time after, he heard a noise at the door, 
which was opened by the servant, when in sprang Dandie 
to receive his penny. In a frolic Mr. T. gave him a bad 
one, which he, as usual, carried to the baker, who refused 
to take the bad coin. He immediately returned to Mr. T.'s, 
scratched at the door, and when the servant opened it, 
laid the penny down at her feet, and walked off, seemingly 
with the greatest contempt. Although Dandie, in general, 
made an immediate purchase of bread with the money 
which he received, the following circumstance clearly demon- 
strates that he possessed more prudent foresight than many 
who are reckoned rational beings. One Sunday, when it 
was very unlikely that he could have received a present of 
money, Dandie was observed to bring home a loaf. Mr. M. 
being somewhat surprised at this, desired the servant to 
search the room to see if any money could be found. While 
she w r as engaged in this task, the dog seemed quite uncon- 
cerned till she approached the bed, when he ran to her, 
and gently drew her back from it. Mr. M. then secured 
the dog, which kept struggling and growling while the servant 
went under the bed, where she found seven pence halfpenny 
under a bit of cloth. From that time he never could endure 
the girl, and was frequently observed to hide his money in a 
corner of a saw-pit, under the dust. When Mr. M. had 
company, if he desired the dog to see any one of the 
gentlemen home, he would w 7 alk with him till he reached his 
home, and then return to his master, how great soever the 
distance might be. Many other stories are told about Dandie 
but these must suffice. Of their authenticity there seems 
little doubt; they were recorded by Captain Brown during 
the lifetime of Dandie and his master. 

The The shepherd's dog {cams domesticus) rivals if 

Sheep Dog. no t surpasses most other dogs in intelligence, 

though his intelligence is less general and more particular 



THE SHEEP DOG. 1 15 

than that of other dogs, ***., more special to his own pro- 
fession and probably more due to training and culture. The 
principle of heredity operates conspicuously in the case of 
dogs, and shepherding being one of the oldest occupations of 
man, the shepherd's dog has probably been under culture for 
a longer period than any other, — hence his proficiency in his 
work. BurTon credited him w T ith being "the parent stock of 
the whole species", and Colonel Smith with civilisation at a 
very early period. "The sheep dog," says Colonel Smith, "is 
seldom two feet high, but his make is muscular; the nose 
rather pointed; the ears erect; and the colour of the hair 
black and fulvous ; the fur is rather long and rough. In great 
Britain, and more particularly in Scotland, the colours are 
more mixed with shades of brown, and the ears are often 
drooping at the tips. The sheep dog is not to be confused 
w T ith the drover or cattle dog, which is larger and still more 
rugged in coat, as well as manners. 

The The sheep dog is credited with so many stories 

Sheep Dog's of skill and sagacity, that those unacquainted 

Sagacity. w ^ his habits and achievements can scarcely 
believe the record. He has been known to rival the St. Bernard 
in tracking both men and sheep who have become buried in 
the snow, the mastiff in defending his master's property and 
the Newfoundland in procuring assistance he was unable to 
render himself. But it is in the pursuit of his special duties 
that he displays the most remarkable powers; and many 
illustrations might be given of his extraordinary skill and 
fidelity. Happily for him he found in the Ettrick Shepherd 
an historian as well acquainted with his prowess as he was 
able to record its exercise; from whose writings we are able 
to quote several remarkable illustrations. 

"My dog Sirrah," says he, "was, beyond all comparison, 
the best dog I ever saw : he was of a surly and unsocial 
temper, — disdaining all flattery, he refused to be caressed; 
but his attention to my commands and interests will never 



Il6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

again, perhaps, be equalled by any of the canine race. Well 
as I knew him, he often astonished me; for, when hard 
pressed in accomplishing the task that he was put to, he had 
expedients of the moment that bespoke a great share of the 
reasoning faculty. 

" About seven hundred lambs, which were once under my 
care at weaning time, broke up at midnight, and scampered 
off in three divisions across the hills, in spite of all that I 
and an assistant lad could do to keep them together. 'Sir- 
rah, my man!' said I, in great affliction, 'they are awaV The 
night was so dark that I could not see Sirrah, but the faith- 
ful animal heard my words — words such as of all others were 
sure to set him most on the alert; and without much ado he 
silently set off in search of the recreant flock. Meanwhile I 
and my companion did not fail to do all in our power to 
recover our lost charge. We spent the whole night in scour- 
ing the hills for miles around, but of neither the lambs nor 
Sirrah could we obtain the slightest trace. It was the most 
extraordinary circumstance that had occurred in my pastoral 
life. We had nothing for it (day having dawned), but to re- 
turn to our master, and inform him that we had lost his 
whole flock of lambs, and knew not what had become of 
them. On our way home, however, we discovered a body 
of lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine, called the Flesh 
Cleuch, and the indefatigable Sirrah standing in front of them, 
looking all around for some relief, but still standing true to 
his charge. The sun was then up; and when we first came 
in view of them, we concluded that it was one of the divi- 
sions which Sirrah had been unable to manage until he came 
to that commanding situation. But what was our astonish- 
ment, when we discovered by degrees that not one lamb of 
the whole flock was wanting ! How he had got all the divi- 
sions collected in the dark, is beyond my comprehension. 
The charge was left entirely to himself, from midnight until 
the rising of the sun; and if all the shepherds in the forest 



THE SHEEP DOG. 117 

had been there to have assisted him, they could not have 
effected it with greater propriety. All that I can farther say 
is, that I never felt so grateful to any creature below the sun, 
as I did to my honest Sirrah that morning." 

The "The late Mr. Steel, flesher in Peebles," says 

Sheep-dog's James Hogg, "had a bitch whose feats in taking 
Fidelity. s heep from the neighbouring farms into the Flesh- 
market at Peebles, form innumerable anecdotes in that vici- 
nity, all similar to one another. But there is one instance 
related of her, that combines so much sagacity with natural 
affection, that I do not think the history of the animal creation 
furnishes such another. Mr. Steel had such an implicit 
dependence on the attention of this animal to his orders, 
that, whenever he put a lot of sheep before her, he took a 
pride in leaving them to herself, and either remained to take 
a glass with the farmer of whom he had made the purchase, 
or took another road to look after bargains or other business. 
But one time he chanced to commit a drove to her charge 
at a place called Willenslee, without attending to her condi- 
tion as he ought to have done. This farm is five miles from 
Peebles, over wild hills, and there is no regularly defined 
path to it. Whether Mr. Steel remained behind, or chose 
another road, I know not; but, on coming home late in the 
evening, he was astonished at hearing that his faithful animal 
had not made her appearance with the flock. He and his 
son, or servant, instantly prepared to set out by different 
paths in search of her; but, on their going out to the street, 
there was she coming with the drove, not one missing; and 
marvellous to relate, she was carrying a young pup in her 
mouth! She had been taken in travail on those hills; and 
how the poor beast had contrived to manage the drove in 
her state of suffering is beyond human calculation, for her 
road lay through sheep the whole way. Her master's heart 
smote him when he saw what she had suffered and effected : 
but she was nothing daunted ; and having deposited her young 



Il8 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

one in a place of safety, she again set out full speed to the 
hills, and brought another and another, till she removed her 
whole litter one by one; but the last one was dead. The 
stories related of the dogs of sheep-stealers, he continues, are 
fairly beyond all credibility. I cannot attach credit to some 
of them without believing the animals to have been devils 
incarnate, come to the earth for the destruction both of the 
souls and bodies of men. I cannot mention names, for the 
sake of families that still remain in the country; but there 
have been sundry men executed, who belonged to this dis- 
trict of the kingdom, for that heinous crime, in my own days ; 
and others have absconded, just in time to save their necks. 
There was not one of these to whom I allude who did not 
acknowledge his dog to be the greatest aggressor. One young 
man in particular, who was, I believe, overtaken by justice 
for his first offence, stated, that after he had folded the sheep 
by moonlight, and selected his number from the flock of a 
former master, he took them out, and set away with them 
towards Edinburgh. But before he had got them quite off 
the farm, his conscience smote him, as he said (but more 
likely a dread of that which soon followed), and he quitted 
the sheep, letting them go again to the hill. He called his 
dog off them; and mounting his pony, he rode away. At 
that time he said his dog was capering and playing around 
him, as if glad of having got free of a troublesome business; 
and he regarded him no more, till, after having rode about 
three miles, he thought again and again that he heard something 
coming up behind him. Halting, at length, to ascertain what 
it was, in a few minutes up came his dog with the stolen 
animals, driving them at a furious rate to keep up with his 
master. The sheep were all smoking, and hanging out their 
tongues, and their guide was fully warm as they. The 
young man was now exceedingly troubled, for the sheep 
having been brought so far from home, he dreaded there 
would be a pursuit, and he could not get them home again 



THE ST. BERNARD DOG. 119 

before day. Resolving, at all events, to keep his hands clear 
of them, he corrected his dog in great wrath, left the sheep 
once more, and taking colley with him, rode off a second 
time. He had not ridden above a mile, till he perceived that 
his assistant had again given him the slip; and suspecting 
for what purpose, he was terribly alarmed as well as chagrined ; 
for daylight now approached, and he durst not make a noise 
calling on his dog, for fear of alarming the neighbourhood, 
in a place where they were both well known. He resolved 
therefore to abandon the animal to himself, and take a road 
across the country which he was sure the other did not know, 
and could not follow. He took that road; but being on 
horseback, he zould not get across the enclosed fields. He 
at length came to a gate, which he shut behind him, and 
went about half a mile farther, by a zigzag course, to a 
farm-house where both his sister and sweetheart lived; and 
at that place he remained until after breakfast time. The 
people of this house were all examined on the trial, and no 
one had either seen the sheep or heard them mentioned, save 
one man, who came up to the aggressor as he was standing 
at the stable-door, and told him that his dog had the sheep 
safe enough down at the Crooked Yett, and he needed not 
hurry himself. He answered, that the sheep were not his — 
they w r ere young Mr. Thomson's, who had left them to his 
charge, and he was in search of a man to drive them, which 
made him come off his road." The fidelity of this animal 
cost his master his life. 

The St. The St. Bernard Dog always honoured for 

Bernard Dog. nis work's sake, resembles the Newfoundland in 
form, hair, colour, and size. "There is another race," says 
Colonel Smith, " trained to the same service, with close 
short hair, and more or less marked with grey, liver colour 
and black clouds." Bass, a famous St. Bernard, the property 
of Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, is thus described by him in 
a letter to Mr. W. H. Lizars printed in Vol. XIX of " The 



120 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Naturalist's Library " : — " My St. Bernard was brought home 
direct from the Great St. Bernard, when he was a puppy 
of about four or five months. His bark is tremendous ; 
so loud, indeed, that I have often distinguished it nearly 
a mile off. He had been missing for some time, when, 
to my great joy, one of the letter-carriers brought him back ; 
and the man's account was, that in going along a certain 
street, he heard his bark from the inside of a yard, and 
knew it immediately. He knocked at the gate, and said to 
the owner of the premises, 'You have got Sir Thomas 
Lauder's big dog.' The man denied it. 'But I know you 
have,' continued the letter-carrier; 'I can swear that I heard 
the bark of Sir Thomas's big dog ; for there is no dog in or 
about all Edinburgh that has such a bark.' At last, with 
great reluctance, the man gave up the dog to the letter-carrier, 
who brought him home here. But though Bass's bark is so 
terrific, he is the best-natured and most playful dog I ever 
saw ; so much so, indeed, that the small King Charles's 
spaniel, Raith, used to tyrannize over him for many months 
after he came here from abroad. I have seen the little 
creature run furiously at the great animal when gnawing a 
bone, who instantly turned himself submissively over on his 
back, with all his legs in the air, whilst Raith, seizing the 
bone, would make the most absurd and unavailing attempts 
to bestride the enormous head of his subdued companion, 
with the most ludicrous affectation of the terrible growling, 
that might bespeak the loftiest description of dog-indignation. 
When a dog attacks Bass in the street or road, he runs away 
rather than quarrel ; but when compelled to fight by any 
perseverance in the attacking party, he throws his enemy 
down in a moment, and then, without biting him, he lays his 
whole immense bulk down upon him, till he nearly smothers 
him. He took a particular fancy for one of the postmen who 
deliver letters here, whose duty it was, besides delivering 
letters, to carry a letter bag from one receiving-house to 



THE ST. BERNARD DOG. 12 1 

another, and this bag he used to give Bass to carry. Bass 
alwavs followed that man through all the villas in this neigh- 
bourhood where he had deliveries to make, and he invariably 
parted with him opposite to the gate of the Convent of St. 
Margaret's, and returned home. When our gate was shut 
here to prevent his following the postman, the dog always 
leaped a high wall to get after him. One day when the 
postman was ill, or detained by some accidental circumstance, 
he sent a man in his place. Bass went up to the man, curi- 
ously scanning his face, whilst the man rather retired from 
the dog, by no means liking his appearance. But as the 
man left the place, Bass followed him, showing strong symp- 
toms that he was determined to have the post-bag. The 
man did all he could to keep possession of it. But at length 
Bass seeing that he had no chance of getting possession of 
the bag by civil entreaty, raised himself up on his hind-legs, 
and putting a great forepaw on each of the man's shoulders, 
he laid him flat on his back in the road, and quietly picking 
up the bag, he proceeded peaceably on his wonted way. 
The man, much dismayed, arose and followed the dog, 
making every now and then an ineffectual attempt to coax 
him to give up the bag. At the first house he came to, he 
told his fears, and the dilemma he was in ; but the people 
comforted him, by telling him that the dog always carried 
the bag. Bass walked with the man to all the houses at 
which he delivered letters, and along the road till he came 
to the gate of St. Margaret's, where he dropped the bag and 
returned home." 

The St. Bernard " The convent of the Great St. Bernard is 
at "Work. situated near the top of the mountain known 
by that name, near one of the most dangerous passages of 
the Alps, between Switzerland and Savoy. In these regions 
the traveller is often overtaken by the most severe weather, 
even after days of cloudless beauty, when the glaciers glitter 
in the sunshine, and the pink flowers of the rhododendron 



122 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

appear as if they were never to be sullied by the tempest. 
But a storm suddenly comes on ; the roads are rendered 
impassable by drifts of snow ; the avalanches, which are huge 
loosened masses of snow or ice, are swept into the valleys, 
carrying trees and crags of rock before them. Benumbed 
with cold, weary in the search for a lost track, his senses 
yielding to the stupifying influence of frost which betrays the 
exhausted sufferer into a deep sleep, the unhappy man sinks 
upon the ground, and the snow-drift covers him from human 
sight. It is then that the keen scent and the exquisite 
docility of these admirable dogs are called into action. 
Though the perishing man lie ten or even twelve feet beneath 
the snow, the delicacy of smell with which they can trace 
him offers a chance of escape. They scratch away the snow 
with their feet ; they set up a continued hoarse and solemn 
bark, which brings the monks and labourers of the convent 
to their assistance. To provide for the chance that the dogs, 
without human help, may succeed in discovering the unfortu- 
nate traveller, one of them has a flask of spirits round his 
neck, to which the fainting man may apply for support ; and 
another has a cloak to cover him. These wonderful exertions 
are often successful ; and even where they fail of restoring 
him who has perished, the dogs discover the body, so that 
it may be secured for the recognition of friends ; and such 
is the effect of the temperature, that the dead features gener- 
ally preserve their firmness for the space of two years." One 
of these dogs is said to have saved as many as forty lives 
and finally to have fallen a victim to an avalanche. 
The Greyhound. The Greyhound is characterised by elegance 
of form and grace of movement; he has also great powers 
of speed and endurance, is mild and affectionate in disposition 
and sagacious in matters other than those connected with 
the chase. " The narrow, sharp head, the light half hanging 
ears, the long neck, the arched back, the slender yet sinewy 
limbs, the deep chest, showing the high development of the 



THE GREYHOUND. 123 

breathing organs, and the elevated hind quarters, says Mrs. 
Bowdich, all shadow forth the peculiar qualities of these 
dogs. Their coat has been adapted to the climate in which 
they originally lived: here it is smooth; but becomes more 
shaggy as they are from colder regions." "The Scotch 
Greyhound {Canis Scoiicus)" she continues, u generally white, 
with black clouds, is said to be the most intellectual of all, 
and formerly to have had so good a scent as to be employed 
as a bloodhound. Maida, whose name is immortalized as 
the favourite of Sir Walter Scott, was a Scottish greyhound. 
The Irish is the largest of all the western breeds, and is 
supposed to owe this distinction to mingling with the great 
Danish dog. To it Ireland owes the extirpation of wolves, 
though it now scarcely exists itself but in name." 

The greyhound is now principally bred for sporting purposes, 
coursing being the favourite amusement. The great speed and 
endurance of the dog is shown in this pastime. Mr. Jesse records 
several instances of dogs who have died from exhaustion 
rather than give up the chase, in one of which it is stated 
that two dogs and a hare were found dead within a 
few yards of each other after a run of several miles. Mr. 
Daniel in his rural sports gives an instance in which a 
brace of greyhounds chased a hare a distance of four 
miles in twelve minutes. 

The Greyhound's Washington Irving tells the following story 
Affection. f a greyhound's affection for his master. "An 
officer named St. Leger, who was imprisoned in Vincennes 
(near Paris) during the wars of St. Bartholomew, wished to 
keep with him a greyhound that he had brought up, and 
which was much attached to him; but they harshly refused 
him this innocent pleasure, and sent away the greyhound to 
his house in the Rue des Lions Saint Paul. The next day 
the greyhound returned alone to Vincennes, and began to 
bark under the windows of the tower, where the officer was 
confined. St. Leger approached, looked through the bars, 



124 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and was delighted again to see his faithful hound, who 
began to jump and play a thousand gambols to show her 
joy. He threw a piece of bread to the animal, who ate it 
with great good will; and, in spite of the immense wall 
which separated them, they breakfasted together like two 
friends. This friendly visit was not the last. Abandoned 
by his relations, who believed him dead, the unfortunate 
prisoner received the visits of his greyhound only, during 
four years' confinement. Whatever weather it might be, in 
spite of rain or snow, the faithful animal did not fail a 
single day to pay her accustomed visit. Six months after 
his release from prison St. Leger died. The faithful grey- 
hound would no longer remain in the house; but on the 
day after the funeral returned to the castle of Vincennes, 
and it is supposed she was actuated by a motive of gratitude. 
A jailor of the outer court had always shown great kindness 
to this dog, which was as handsome as affectionate. Contrary 
to the custom of people of that class, this man had been 
touched by her attachment and beauty, so that he facilitated 
her approach to see her master, and also insured her a safe 
retreat. Penetrated with gratitude for this service, the grey- 
hound remained the rest of her life near the benevolent 
jailor. It was remarked, that even while testifying her zeal 
and gratitude for her second master, one could easily see 
that her heart was with the first. Like those who, having 
lost a parent, a brother, or a friend, come from afar to seek 
consolation by viewing the place which they inhabited, this 
affectionate animal repaired frequently to the tower where 
St. Leger had been imprisoned, and would contemplate for 
hours together the gloomy window from which her dear 
master had so often smiled to her, and where they had so 
frequently breakfasted together." 

The Lurcher. " The rough, large-boned, ill-looking Lurcher," 
says Mrs. Bowdich, "is said to have descended from the 
rough greyhound and the shepherd's dog. It is now rare; 



THE BLOODHOUND. I 25 

but there are some of its sinister-looking mongrel progeny 
still to be seen. They always bear the reputation of being 
poachers' dogs, and are deeply attached to their owners. 
They have a fine scent; and a man confessed to Mr. Bewick, 
that he could, with a pair of lurchers, procure as many 
rabbits as he pleased. They never give tongue, but set 
about their work silently and cautiously, and hunt hares 
and partridges, driving the latter into the nets of the unlaw- 
ful sportsmen." He is a dog to whom a bad name has 
been given, and who has found a bad name but one step 
from hanging. 

The Blood- The Bloodhound (Cants Sanguinarius) whether 
hound. because less needed now than formally or not, 
is less cultivated and is therefore more rare. Mr. Bell's 
description of the breed is as follows : — " They stand twenty- 
eight inches high at the shoulder; the muzzle broad and 
full; the upper lip large and pendulous; the vertex of the 
head protuberant; the expression stern, thoughtful, and noble; 
the breast broad; the limbs strong and muscular; and the 
original colour a deep tan, with large black clouds. They 
are silent when following their scent ; and . in this respect 
differ from other hounds, who are generally gifted with fine 
deep voices. Numbers, under the name of sleuth-hounds, 
used to be kept on the Borders; and kings and troopers, 
perhaps equally marauders, have in olden times found it 
difficult to evade them. The noble Bruce had several nar- 
row escapes from them; and the only sure way to destroy 
their scent was to spill blood upon the track. In all the 
common routine of life they are good-natured and intelli- 
gent, and make excellent watch-dogs. A story is related of 
a nobleman, who, to make a trial whether a young hound 
was well instructed, desired one of his servants to walk to 
a town four miles off, and then to a market town three 
miles from thence. The dog, without seeing the man he 
was to pursue, followed him by the scent to the above- 



126 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

mentioned places, notwithstanding the multitude of market- 
people that went along the same road, and of travellers that 
had occasion to come; and when the bloodhound came to 
the market town, he passed through the streets without 
taking notice of any of the people there, and ceased not 
till he had gone to the house where the man he sought 
rested himself, and where he found him in an upper room, 
to the wonder of those who had accompanied him in this 
pursuit." 
The Scent ^ stron g characteristic of the Bloodhound is 
of the of course his remarkable scent for blood. 
Bloodhound. « Bloodhounds, " says Bingley, "were formerly 
used in certain districts lying between England and Scot- 
land, that were much infested by robbers and murderers; 
and a tax was laid on the inhabitants for keeping and 
maintaining a certain number of these animals. Some few 
are yet kept in the northern parts of the kingdom, and in 
the lodges of the royal forests, where they are used in pur- 
suit of deer that have been previously wounded. They are 
also sometimes employed in discovering deer-stealers, whom 
they infallibly trace by the blood that issues from the wounds 
of their victims. A very extraordinary instance of this 
occurred in the New Forest, in the year 1810, and was 
related to me by the Right Hon. G. H. Rose. A person, 
in getting over a stile into a field near the Forest, remarked 
that there was blood upon it. Immediately afterwards he 
recollected that some deer had been killed, and several 
sheep stolen in the neighbourhood; and that this might 
possibly be the blood of one that had been killed in the 
preceding night. The man went to the nearest lodge to 
give information; but the keeper being from home, he was 
under the necessity of going to Rhmefield Lodge, which 
was at a considerable distance. Toomer, the under-keeper, 
went with him to the place, accompanied by a bloodhound. 
The dog, when brought to the spot, was laid on the scent; 



THE STAG-DOG. 1 27 

and after following for about a mile the track which the 
depredator had taken, he came at last to a heap of furze 
fagots belonging to the family of a cottager. The woman 
of the house attempted to drive the dog away, but was pre- 
vented; and on the fagots being removed a hole was dis- 
covered in the ground, which contained the body of a 
sheep that had recently been killed, and also a considerable 
quantity of salted meat. The circumstance which renders 
this account the more remarkable is, that the dog was not 
brought to the scent until more than sixteen hours had 
elapsed after the man had carried away the sheep." 
The stag- " The sta g hound, " says Colonel Smith, " was a 

Hound, large stately animal, equal or little less than the 
blood hound, and originally, like that race, slow, sure, cautious 
and steady." "The modern hound is perhaps still handsomer, 
though somewhat smaller; and the breed having been crossed 
with the fox hound is now much faster." The stag hunt 
having declined in public favour they have ceased to be bred 
in packs for hunting purposes. 

A stag- "Many years since," says Captain Brown, "a very 
Hunt, large stag was turned out of Whinfield Park in the 
county of Westmoreland, and was pursued by the hounds 
till, by accident or fatigue, the whole pack was thrown out 
with the exception of two dogs which continued the chase. 
Its length is uncertain, but the chase was seen at Red Kirk 
near Annan in Scotland, distant by the post road about forty- 
six miles. The stag returned to the park from which he had 
set out, so that considering the circuitous route which it 
pursued, it is supposed to have run over not less than one 
hundred and twenty miles. It was its greatest and last 
achievement, for it leapt the wall of the park and immedi- 
ately expired ; the hounds were also found dead at no great 
distance from the wall which they had been unable to leap. 
An inscription was placed on a tree in the park, in memory 
of the animals, and the horns of the stag, the largest ever 



128 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

seen in ' that part of th,e country, were placed over it. " 
The Fox- " I n giving a description of the various breeds of 
Hound, dogs," says Mr. Jesse, "everyone must be aware, 
that by crossing and recrossing them many of those we now 
see have but little claim to originality. The fox-hound, the old 
Irish wolf-dog, and the Colley or shepherd's dog, may per- 
haps be considered as possessing the greatest purity of blood. " 
Mr. Jesse then refers to a picture of a pack of hounds in 
Wilkinson's " Manners and Customs of the Egyptians, " a picture 
which was copied from a painting found in one of the tombs 
of the Pharaohs, in which "every individual hound is cha- 
racteristic of the present breed. " If this be so, as Mr. Jesse 
says, " this breed must be considered of a much more ancient 
date than is generally supposed." The Fox-hound is des- 
cribed by Colonel Smith as " somewhat lower at the shoulders 
and more slenderly built" than the stag-hound. His colour 
is " white, but commonly marked with larger clouds of black 
and tan, one on each side the head, covering the ears, the 
same on each flank and one at the root of the tail." The 
Fox-hound has great strength and endurance, and will run 
ten hours in pursuit of the fox. 

The Fox-hound's Many extraordinary stories are told of the 
Tenacity. Fox-hound's ardour for sport. According to 
Mr. Jesse, a bitch was on one occasion taken in labour while 
in the hunting field, and after giving birth to a pup took it 
in its mouth and pursued the chase. Another bitch, whose 
eye had been struck from the socket accidentally by the lash 
of the whipper-in who did not believe her challenge, pursued 
the fox alone for a great distance with her eye pendant, until 
the rest of the pack came up and the fox was killed. Per- 
haps one of the most remarkable instances of tenacity of 
purpose in an animal is that quoted by Mr. Jesse from the 
supplement to Mr. Daniel's "Rural Sports." "The circum- 
stance took place in the year 1808, in the counties of 
Inverness and Perth, and perhaps surpasses any length of 



THE HARRIER AND THE BEAGLE. 129 

pursuit known in the annals of hunting. On the 8th of June 
in that year, a fox and hound were seen near Dunkeld in 
Perthshire, on the high road, proceeding at a slow trotting 
pace. The dog was about fifty yards behind the fox, and 
each was so fatigued as not to gain on the other. A coun- 
tryman very easily caught the fox, and both it and the dog 
were taken to a gentleman's house in the neighbourhood, 
where the fox died. It was afterwards ascertained that the 
hound belonged to the Duke of Gordon, and that the fox 
was started on the morning of the 4th of June, on the top 
of those hills called Monaliadh, which separate Badenoch 
from Fort Augustus. From this it appeared that the chase 
lasted four days, and that the distance traversed from the 
place where the fox was unkennelled to the spot where 
it was caught, without making any allowances for doubles, 
crosses, etc., and as the crow flies, exceeded seventy 
miles." 

The Harrier. "The Harrier," says Colonel Smith, "so called 
from being usually applied to hare hunting is smaller than 
the fox-hound, not exceeding eighteen inches at the shoulder. 
It is entirely an artificial breed and is often confounded with 
the beagle." 

The Beagle. The Beagle is called by Mr. Jesse, " a Fox- 
hound in miniature, " and he adds nothing can well be more 
perfect than the shape of these small dogs. " In Queen Eli- 
zabeth's reign, " says Colonel Smith, " the fanciers bred a race 
so small, that a complete cry of them could be carried out 
to the field in a pair of panniers. That princess had little 
singing beagles which could be placed in a man's glove ! At 
present they are about twelve or fourteen inches at the 
shoulders, stout and compact in make, with long ears, and 
either marked with a bright streak or spot of white about 
the neck on a dark brown coat, or white with spots like a 
harrier, of black and red. They are slow but persevering, 
and are sufficiently sure of killing their game." 

9 



130 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Dalmatian Colonel Smith places the Dalmatian dog 
Dog. with the hounds on the ground of similarity 

of general structure. Elegant in form and beautiful in mak- 
ing it is said to be less keen in scent and less sagacious than 
other dogs. Sagacious or not, it was one of these dogs that 
Lord Maynard found awaiting him at his house in England 
after having lost him in France. 

The Turnspit. "The Turnspit," says Captain Brown, "derived its 
name from the service in which it was engaged before the 
invention of machinery to do the same work, and, what is 
remarkable, now that the office is extinct, so also has nearly 
become the species which used to perform it." "I have now 
in my kitchen," said the Duke de Laincourt, to M. Descartes, 
"two turnspits which take their turns regularly every other 
day in the wheel : one of them, not liking his employment, 
hid himself on the day he should have wrought, when his 
companion was forced to mount the wheel in his stead; but 
crying and wagging his tail, he intimated that those in atten- 
dance should first follow him. He immediately conducted 
them to a garret, where he dislodged the idle dog, and killed 
him immediately." Another instance is recorded by Captain 
Brown as follows : " When the cook had prepared the meat 
for roasting, he found that the dog which should have wrought 
the spit had disappeared. He attempted to employ another, 
but it bit his leg and fled. Soon after, however, the refrac- 
tory dog entered the kitchen driving before him the truant 
turnspit, which immediately of its own accord went into the 
wheel." It is easy to see from these stories that the occupa- 
tion was not a popular one and it is well that it is no longer 
a necessary one. 

The Pointer. The pointer ( Cams avicularis) as resembling 
the race of hounds, more than any other of the shooting or 
gun dogs is placed next to them in the classification of 
Colonel Smith, who says : " In their present qualities of 
standing fixed and pointing to game, we see the result of a 



THE POINTER. 131 

long course of severe training ; and it is a curious fact, that 
by a succession of generations having been constantly edu- 
cated to this purpose, it has become almost innate, and young 
dogs of the true breed point with scarcely any instruction : 
this habit is so firm in some that the late Mr. Gilpin is 
reported to have painted a brace of pointers while in the 
act, and that they stood an hour and a quarter without 
moving." A smooth dog, resembling the fox-hound in his 
markings, though sometimes entirely black, the pointer is used 
by sportsmen to point them to the spot where the game is 
to be found. "It ranges the fields," says Mr. Wood, "until 
it scents the hare or partridge lying close on the ground. 
It then remains still as if carved in stone, every limb fixed, 
and the tail pointing straight behind it. In this attitude it 
remains until the gun is discharged, reloaded, and the sports- 
man has reached the place where the bird sprang." 
The Pointer as The pointer is a keen sportsman and will 
a Sportsman, "point" without tiring while worthily supported 
by the gun, but many stories are told of his disgust at a bad 
shot and his refusal to "point" for unskilful sportsmen. The 
following amusing story is told by Captain Brown and is 
quoted as follows by Mr. Jesse: "A gentleman, on his 
requesting the loan of a pointer-dog from a friend, was 
informed by him that the dog would behave very well so 
long as he could kill his birds ; but if he frequently missed 
them, it would run home and leave him. The dog was sent, 
and the following day was fixed for trial; but, unfortunately, 
his new master was a remarkably bad shot. Bird after bird 
rose and was fired at, but still pursued its flight untouched, 
till, at last, the pointer became careless, and often missed 
his game. As if seemingly willing, however, to give one 
chance more, he made a dead stop at a fern-bush, with his 
nose pointed downward, the fore-foot bent, and his tail straight 
and steady. In this position he remained firm till the sports- 
man was close to him, with both barrels cocked, then mov- 



132 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ing steadily forward for a few paces, he at last stood still 
near a bunch of heather, the tail expressing the anxiety of 
the mind by moving regularly backwards and forwards. At 
last out sprang a fine old blackcock. Bang, bang, went both 
barrels, but the bird escaped unhurt. The patience of the 
dog was now quite exhausted ; and, instead of dropping to 
charge, he turned boldly round, placed his tail between his 
legs, gave one howl, long and loud, and set off as fast as he 
could to his own home." The pointer has been known to 
lie down without bidding beside game which has been dropped 
from a bag, after a long day's shooting, and watch it faith- 
fully until relieved on the following day, when the missing 
birds were searched for and found. 

The Setter. The Setter (Ca?iis Index) divides with the 
pointer the duty of attending the sportsman on his shooting 
expeditions. According to Captain Brown he was " originally 
derived from a cross between the Spanish pointer and the 
large water spaniel and was justly celebrated for his fine 
scent." Many crossings have considerably varied the breed, 
of which the Irish is now considered purer than the English 
and Scotch breeds. " In figure, " says Colonel Smith, u they 
participate of the pointer and the Spaniel, though larger 
than the latter. In England they are white, or white with 
black or brown marks." They are intelligent, affectionate 
and docile, and often show great sagacity outside the domain 
of sport. 
The Scent of Col. Hutchinson says, "I was partridge-shooting 

the Setter. th e season before last with an intimate friend. 
The air was soft, and there was a good breeze. We came 
upon a large turnip-field, deeply trenched on account of its 
damp situation. A white setter, that habitually carried a 
lofty head, drew for awhile, and then came to a point. We 
got up to her. She led us across some ridges, when her 
companion, a jealous dog (a pointer), which had at first 
backed correctly, most improperly pushed on in front, but, 



THE SETTER. 1 33 

not being able to acknowledge the scent, went off, clearly 
imagining the bitch was in error. She, however, held on, 
and in beautiful style brought us up direct to a covey. My 
friend and I agreed that she must have been but little, if at 
all, less than one hundred yards off when she first winded 
the birds ; and it was clear to us that they could not have 
been running, for the breeze came directly across the furrows, 
and she had led us in the wind's eye. We thought the 
point the more remarkable, as it is generally supposed that 
the strong smell of turnips diminishes a dog's power of 
scenting birds." 

The Setter's Mr. Huet tells the following story of the sagacity 
Sagacity. f the setter. " The gamekeeper had, on one of 
the short days of December, shot at and wounded a deer. 
Hoping to run him down before night, he instantly put the 
dog upon the track, which followed it at full speed, and soon 
was out of sight. At length it grew dark, and the gamekeeper 
returned home, thinking he should find the setter arrived 
there before him ; but he was disappointed, and became ap- 
prehensive that his dog might have lost himself, or fallen a 
prey to some ravenous animal. The next morning, however, 
we were all greatly rejoiced to see him come running into 
the yard, whence he directly hastened to the door of my 
apartment, and, on being admitted, ran, with gestures expres- 
sive of solicitude and eagerness, to a corner of the room 
where guns were placed. We understood the hint, and, taking 
the guns, followed him. He led us not by the road which 
he himself had taken out of the wood, but by beaten paths 
half round it, and then by several wood-cutters' tracks in 
different directions, to a thicket, where, following him a few 
paces, we found the deer which he had killed. The dog 
seems to have rightly judged that we should have been obliged 
to make our way with much difficulty through almost the 
whole length of the wood, in order to come to the deer in a 
straight direction, and he therefore led us a circuitous but 



134 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

open and convenient road. Between the legs of the deer, 
which he had guarded during the night against the beasts of 
prey that might otherwise have seized upon it, he had 
scratched a hole in the snow, and filled it with dry leaves 
for his bed. The extraordinary sagacity which he had dis- 
played upon this occasion rendered him doubly valuable to 
us, and it therefore caused us very serious regret when, in 
the ensuing summer, the poor animal went mad, possibly in 
consequence of his exposure to the severe frost of that night, 
and it became necessary for the gamekeeper to shoot him, 
which he could not do without shedding tears. He said he 
would willingly have given his best cow to save him ; and I 
confess myself that I would not have hesitated to part with 
my best horse upon the same terms." 

The Spaniel. There are many varieties of the Spaniel of which 
the Water Spaniel, the King Charles Spaniel, the Blenheim 
and the Maltese Spaniels are the best known. The Water 
Spaniels figure on some of the later monuments of Rome 
and so prove their antiquity. Colonel Smith describes the 
Spaniel as a small setter, with silky hair and fine long vil- 
lous ears; black, brown pied, liver coloured, white and black- 
and-white, the water spaniel differing from the other species 
chiefly in his readiness to hunt and swim in the water and 
the hair being somewhat harder to the touch. The spaniel 
has a great affection for his master and is never tired of 
testifying his appreciation of his kindness. Colonel Smith 
mentions a dog allied to the spaniel race, who at the time 
of his writing (April 1840) had been lying on the grave of 
his mistress for three days, refusing all food, and was on that 
day being forcibly removed. Spaniels are often very intel- 
ligent, displaying the same sagacity as other and larger dogs 
and in the same way. Mr. Jesse mentions a King Charles 
spaniel who was locked by his master in a room in Vere 
St. Clare Market, one afternoon about half past five, while he 
went with his family to Drury Lane theatre. About eight 



THE SPANIEL. 1 35 

o'clock in the evening the dog escaped his confinement and 
found his way to the theatre where he discovered his master 
in the midst of the pit, though it was crowded at the time. 
The Blenheim spaniel is similar to the King Charles breed, 
though somewhat different in its markings, fuller about the 
muzzle and shorter in the back. Blenheims have been known 
to show great intelligence and affection. A story is told of 
one who upon being attacked by two cats, obtained the 
assistance of a third cat, waylaid his enemies one at a time 
and, with the assistance of his friend, taught them better 
manners. The Maltese dog is another favourite species, much 
admired and petted by ladies. 

The Sagacity Captain Brown gives the following from a letter 
of the "Water written by a gentleman at Dijon in France, to 
Spaniel. j^g f r i en( j m London, dated August 15, 1764: 
"Since my arrival here a man has been broken on the 
wheel, with no other proof to condemn him than that of a 
water-spaniel. The circumstances attending it being so very 
singular and striking, I beg leave to communicate them to 
you. A farmer, who had been to receive a sum of money, 
was waylaid, robbed, and murdered, by tw r o villains. The 
farmer's dog returned with all speed to the house of the 
person who had paid the money, and expressed such amazing 
anxiety that he would follow him, pulling him several times 
by the sleeve and skirt of the coat, that, at length, the gen- 
tleman yielded to his importunity. The dog led him to the 
field, a little from the roadside, where the body lay. From 
thence the gentleman w r ent to a public-house, in order to 
alarm the country. The moment he entered, (as the two 
villains were there drinking), the dog seized the murderer by 
the throat, and the other made his escape. This man lay 
in prison three months, during which time they visited him 
once a-week with the spaniel, and though they made him 
change his clothes with other prisoners, and always stand in 
the midst of a crowd, yet did the animal always find him 



136 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

out, and fly at him. On the day of trial, when the prisoner 
was at the bar, the dog was let loose in the court-house, and 
in the midst of some hundreds he found him out (though 
dressed entirely in new clothes), and would have torn him 
to pieces had he been allowed ; in consequence of which he 
was condemned, and at the place of execution he confessed 
the fact." 

The Terrier. There are many varieties of terrier including 
numerous celebrated breeds. The English, Scotch, Skye, Bull 
and Fox terriers being the best known. Innumerable stories 
of the intelligence and sagacity of the various breeds might 
be told if space permitted, but it must suffice to say that for 
sportsmanlike qualities, for general intelligence and sagacity, 
and for affection for his master, the terrier of whatever breed 
will hold his own against any other dog. Dogs are said to 
have natural antipathies, and that of the Bull- dog for the 
bull is an obvious illustration. An equal antipathy is shown 
by the English terrier for the rat and by the Fox-terrier 
for the cat, though the latter is perhaps as much a matter 
of education as of nature. Terriers are, however, among the 
best known of dogs and therefore need the less description. 

The Mastiff. The Mastiff is said to be of an original breed 
indigenous to England, whence some were exported to Italy in 
the days of the Roman emperors. The breed has since been 
crossed by stag and blood hounds and the present is a 
magnificent animal of great power and noble character. The 
ancient breed was brindled yellow and black, the present is 
usually deeper or lighter buff with dark muzzle and ears. 
The mastiff is sometimes twenty-nine or thirty inches in 
height at the shoulder. 

The Mastiff's The Mastiff is the best of watch dogs, for he 
Fidelity. brings an intelligence to bear upon his duty 
which is in the highest degree surprising. He has been 
known to walk by the side of an intending thief "for- 
bidding his laying hands upon any article, yet abstaining 



THE MASTIFF. 1 37 

from doing him any bodily harm, and suffering his escape 
over the walls," but leaving his master's property intact. A 
mastiff who had been left by his master, who was a sweep, 
in charge of his bag of soot in a narrow street in Southampton, 
refused to leave it either for coaxings or threats, and rather 
than desert his duty allowed himself to be run over and killed. 
The Mastiff's ^ ie masu ff nas a powerful scent, and remark - 
Discrimina- able skill in discovering the lost property of his 
tion. master. Captain Brown gives the following ex- 
tract from a letter from St. Germains: "An English gentle- 
man some time ago came to our Vauxhall with a large 
mastiff, which was refused admittance, and the gentleman 
left him in the care of the body-guards, who are placed there. 
The Englishman, some time after he had entered, returned 
to the gate and informed the guards that he had lost his 
watch, telling the sergeant, that if he would permit him to 
take in the dog, he would soon discover the thief. His 
request being granted, the gentleman made motions to the 
dog of what he had lost, which immediately ran about 
amongst the company, and traversed the gardens, till at last 
he laid hold of a man. The gentleman insisted that this 
person had got his watch; and on being searched, not only 
his watch, but six others, were discovered in his pockets. 
What is more remarkable, the dog possessed such a perfec- 
tion of instinct as to take his master's watch from the other 
six, and carry it to him." 

The Mastiff Mr. Jesse gives the following story which he 
as Protector, reprinted from a contemporary newspaper: 

"A most extraordinary circumstance has just occurred at 
the Hawick toll-bar, which is kept by two old women. It 
appears that they had a sum of money in the house, and 
were extremely alarmed lest they should be robbed of it. 
Their fears prevailed to such an extent, that, when a carrier 
whom they knew was passing by, they urgently requested him 
to remain with them all night, which, however, his duties 



138 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

would not permit him to do; but, in consideration of the 
alarm of the women, he consented to leave with them a 
large mastiff dog. In the night the women were disturbed 
by the uneasiness of the dog, and heard a noise apparently 
like an attempt to force an entrance into the premises, upon 
which they escaped by the back-door, and ran to a neigh- 
bouring house, which happened to be a blacksmith's shop. 
They knocked at the door, and were answered from within 
by the smith's wife. She said her husband was absent, but 
that she was willing to accompany the terrified women to 
their home. On reaching the house, they heard a savage 
but half-stifled growling from the dog. On entering they saw 
the body of a man hanging half in and half out of their 
little window, whom the dog had seized by the throat, and 
was still worrying. On examination, the man proved to be 
their neighbour the blacksmith, dreadfully torn about the throat, 
and quite dead." 

The Bull- The Bull-dog {Ca?iis Anglicus), is said to be 
Do s- an original English breed, and Colonel Smith 
suggests that this dog rather than the mastiff was the one 
which flourished in England in Roman times. Not indeed 
the breed as it at present exists, but "one little inferior to 
the mastiff," "but with the peculiar features of the bull form 
more strongly marked." "The bull-dog," says Colonel Smith, 
" differs from all others, even from the mastiff, in giving no 
warning of his attack by his barking, he grapples his oppo- 
nents without in the least estimating their comparative weight 
and powers. We have seen one pinning an American Bison 
and holding his nose down till the animal gradually brought 
forward its hind feet and crushing the dog to death tore his 
muzzle out of the fangs, most dreadfully mangled. We have 
known another hallooed on to attack a disabled eagle; the 
bird unable to escape, threw himself on the back, and as the 
dog sprang at his throat, struck him with his claws, one of 
which penetrating the skull, killed him instantly, and caused 



THE BULL-DOG. 1 39 

his master the loss of a valued animal and one hundred 
dollars in the wager." "The bull-dog is possessed of less 
sagacity and less attachment than any of the hound tribe; 
he is therefore less favoured, and more rarely bred with 
care, excepting by professed amateurs of sports and feelings 
little creditable to humanity. He is of moderate size, but 
entirely moulded for strength and elasticity." He never 
leaves his hold, when once he has got it, while life lasts, 
hence he has become the type of obstinate pertinacity; and 
unflinching courage. 
The Poodle The Poodle dog while possessing many natural 
D °s- qualities which endear it to its owner, is capable 
of great cultivation and is for this reason much affected by 
those who train dogs for public performances. Of the clever 
tricks the poodle has been trained to perform many stories 
are told, among which the following from M. Blaze's " His- 
tory of the Dog," as quoted in Mr. Jesse's "Anecdotes of 
Dogs," is one of the most amusing. 

" A shoe-black on the Pont Neuf at Paris had a poodle 
dog, whose sagacity brought no small profit to his master. 
If the dog saw a person with well-polished boots go across 
the bridge, he contrived to dirty them, by having first rolled 
himself in the mud of the Seine. His master was then 
employed to clean them. An English gentleman, who had 
suffered more than once from the annoyance of having his 
boots dirtied by a dog, was at last induced to watch his 
proceedings, and thus detected the tricks he was playing for 
his master's benefit. He was so much pleased with the 
animal's sagacity, that he purchased him at a high price and 
conveyed him to London. On arriving there, he was con- 
fined to the house till he appeared perfectly satisfied with 
his new master and his new situation. He at last, however, 
contrived to escape, and made his way back to Paris, where 
he rejoined his old master, and resumed his former occu- 
pation." 



140 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Weasels ^ e come next to tne family of the Mustelidae 

Otters and which includes Weasels, Otters and Badgers, which 

Badgers. we ta ^ e ag ^ h eac j s f the three sub-families 
into which it is divided. The first of these includes the 
Pine Marten, occasionally found in Ireland and Scotland but more 
commonly in different parts of Europe; the Sable, which belongs 
to northern Europe and Asia; the American Sable, which 
supplies the English market with hundreds of thousands of 
skins annually; the Ermine or Stoat, still to be found in 
Great-Britain and familiar in the northern parts of Europe, 
Africa and America; the Weasel which has much the same 
locale as the Ermine; the Ferret which hails from Africa and 
which is cultivated in England for its use in the destruction 
of vermin; and the Glutton (Gulo htscus) which is found 
principally in North America. The Polecat is also a member 
of this family. It is about seventeen inches long and in form 
resembles the weasel. Its colour is deep chocolate. It 
generally lives in the neighbourhood of houses on hares, 
rabbits, and birds. When pinched for food it will also 
catch and eat fish. It is remarkable for an insufferably 
fetid odour. 

The Weasel. The weasel though thought by some to be 
incapable of domestication has, like most other animals who 
have had the chance, shown itself amenable to kindly treat- 
ment. Mdlle. de Laistre possessed one which she kept in 
her chamber, dispelling its strong odours by perfumes. This 
weasel displayed towards her extravagant evidence of affection. 
" If the servant sets it at liberty before I am up in the 
morning," she writes, " after a thousand gambols, it comes into 
my bed, and reposes in my hand or on my bosom. If I 
am up before it is let out, it will fly to me in rapture, and 
spend half an hour in caressing me. The curiosity of this 
little pet is unbounded, for it is impossible to open a drawer 
or box, without its roving through every part of it; if even 
a piece of paper or a book is looked at, it will also examine 



WEASELS, OTTERS AND BADGERS. 141 

it with attention." This weasel lived on friendly terms with 
both a cat and a dog who shared his mistress' favours. That 
the weasel can defend himself when attacked is shown 
by the following incident told by Mr. Bell: " As a gentleman 
was riding over his grounds, he saw, at a short distance from 
him, a kite pounce on some object on the ground, and rise 
with it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the kite 
began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in the 
air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling irregularly round, whilst 
evidently endeavouring to free himself from some obnoxious 
thing with his feet. After a short but sharp contest, the 
kite fell suddenly to the earth. The gentleman instantly rode 
up to the spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite, ap- 
parently unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten 
through the skin under the wing, and the large blood-vessels 
of the part torn through." The length of the common weasel 
is about eight inches. 

The Common There are several genera of Otters. The common 
Otter. otter (Lutra vulgaris) is known throughout Europe 
and is not uncommon in Great Britain. The otter lives 
on fish, for the hunting of which he is admirably fitted. He 
is web-footed and has a body of great flexibility and short 
but remarkably muscular legs. The Otter was looked upon 
as a friend by the peasants living near salmon preserves years 
ago, for after landing his prey he was content with but a 
small portion for himself, and left the rest which the peasants 
readily appropriated. 

"Otters," says Mr. St. John, " are very affectionate animals ; 
the young anxiously seek their mother if she should be killed ; 
and if the young are injured, the parent hovers near them till 
she is herself destroyed. If one of a pair be killed, the one that 
is left will hunt for its mate with untiring perseverance; and if 
one be caught in a trap, its companion will run round and round, 
endeavouring to set it free, on which occasions, though so quiet 
at other times, they make a snorting and blowing like a horse." 



142 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

"A labourer going to his work, soon after five o'clock in 
the morning, saw a number of animals coming towards him, 
and stood quietly by the hedge till they came alongside of 
him. He then perceived four old otters, probably dams, 
and about twenty young ones. He took a stick out of the 
hedge and killed one. Directly it began to squeak, all the 
four old ones turned back, and stood till the other young 
ones had escaped through the hedge, and then went quietly 
themselves. Several families were thus journeying together, 
and probably they had left their former abode from not 
finding a sufficiency of food." Otters have often been tamed 
and taught to catch fish for their masters. Captain Brown 
tells of an otter which was caught when young and trained 
by Jam es Campbell near Inverness. " It was frequently employed 
in catching fish, and would, sometimes, take eight or ten 
salmon in a day. If not prevented, it always made an 
attempt to break the fish behind the anal fin, which is next 
the tail; and, as soon as one was taken away, it always 
dived in pursuit of more. It was equally dexterous at sea 
fishing, and took great numbers of young cod, and other 
fish, there. When tired, it would refuse to fish any longer, 
and was then rewarded with as much as it could devour. 
Having satisfied its appetite, it always coiled itself round, 
and fell asleep: in which state it was generally carried home." 
Professor Steller says that on killing and skinning a female 
otter, which he found at a place at which he had deprived 
her of her young eight days previously, he found her quite 
wasted away from grief at the loss of her progeny. 

The Badger. There are several varieties of Badger, the 
Indian and the American being the most important, re- 
spectively of the eastern and western worlds. The common 
badger (Meles laxus), which is found in different parts of 
England, feeds upon roots, bulbs, fruits, and all kinds of 
vegetables, as well as small animals, snails and worms. He 
has also a great fancy for eggs. He lives in burrows, which 



THE RATEL AND THE SKUNK. 1 43 

form passages having a central chamber and various anti- 
chambers, which he makes in sandy and gravelly soil. He 
is nocturnal in his habits. " When pursued," says Mrs. Bowdich, 
" he constantly impedes the progress of his enemies by throw- 
ing the soil behind him, so as to fill up the passages, while 
he escapes to the surface." He is a formidable opponent 
to # his enemies, as his skin is so tough and his bite so severe, 
and he displays much sagacity in avoiding traps and escap- 
ing confinement. Mr. St. John placed one in a paved court 
for security, but before the next morning he had displaced 
a stone and burrowed his way out under the wall. Captain 
Brown tells an affecting story of the feeling of a badger for 
its mate. a Two persons in France killed a badger and 
proceeded to drag it towards a neighbouring village. They 
had not proceeded far when they heard the cry of an 
animal in seeming distress, and stopped to listen, when 
another badger approached them slowly. They at first 
threw stones at it; notwithstanding which, it drew near, 
came up to the dead animal, began to lick it, and con- 
tinued its mournful cry. The men, surprised at this, desisted 
from offering any further injury to it, and again drew the 
dead one along as before; when the living badger, deter- 
mined not to quit its companion, lay down on it, taking it 
gently by one ear, and in that manner was drawn into the 
midst of the village; nor could dogs, boys, or men induce 
it to quit its situation: and to their shame be it said, they 
had the inhumanity to kill the poor animal, and afterwards 
to burn it, declaring it could be no other than a witch." 
The Ratel ^ ne -^ ate ^ (Mellivora capensis) of South and 
and the East Africa and the Skunk of Canada belong 
Skunk. to t kj s f am iiy. The Ratel is a small animal 
standing from ten to twelve inches high, with a very tough 
skin, which is so loose that, to quote Sparrman, " If anybody 
catches hold of the Ratel by the hind part of his neck, he 
is able to turn round, as it were, in his skin, and bite the 



144 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

arm of the person that seizes him." Dog-like in shape, 
the back and head are covered with a coat of lighter 
colour than that of the sides and under part of the body, 
giving it the appearance of a garment. The Ratel is the 
natural enemy of the Bees, his thick skin rendering him im- 
pervious to their attack, and he is said to show great saga- 
city in tracing their nests, watching at sundown, with his 
eyes shaded by his paws, the homeward flight of the honey 
makers and then following them to plunder and destroy. 
The Skunk is famous for its offensive smell, which according 
to Sir John Richardson is emitted by a deep yellow fluid 
which it discharges, and which is so strong that it retains 
its disgusting odour for many days. It is about eighteen 
inches in length, has short legs and a body that is broad 
and flat. It lives upon poultry and eggs, small quadrupeds, 
young birds, and wild fruits. Godman says: "Pedestrians, 
called by business or pleasure to ramble through the country 
during the morning or evening twilight, occasionally see a 
small and pretty animal a short distance before them in the 
path, scampering forward without appearing much alarmed, 
and advancing in a zigzag or somewhat serpentine direction. 
Experienced persons generally delay long enough to allow 
this unwelcome traveller to withdraw from the path; but it 
often happens that a view of the animal arouses the ardour 
of the observer, who, in his fondness for sport, thinks not of 
any result but that of securing a prize. It would be more 
prudent to rest content with pelting this quadruped from a 
safe distance, or to drive it away by shouting loudly; but 
almost all inexperienced persons, the first time such an oppor- 
tunity occurs, rush forward with intent to run the animal 
down. This appears to be an easy task; in a few moments 
it is almost overtaken; a few more strides and the victim may 
be grasped by its long and waving tail — but the tail is now 
suddenly curled over the back, its pace is slackened, and in 
one instant the condition of things is entirely reversed; — the 



THE RACCOON AND THE CO ATI. 1 45 

lately triumphant pursuer is eagerly flying from his intended 
prize, involved in an atmosphere of stench, gasping for breath, 
or blinded and smarting with pain, if his approach were suffi- 
ciently close to allow of his being struck in the eyes by the 
pestilent fluid of the Skunk." 

trhe Our next concern is with the family of the 

Baccoon and procyonidae which includes several bear-like 

the Coati. animals, the Raccoon and the Coati being the best 
known. The raccoon belongs to North America, the coati 
to Central and Southern America. The raccoon is an 
expert swimmer, about the size of a fox, and of nocturnal 
habits. "His food," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "is princi- 
pally small animals and insects." Oysters are also a very 
favourite article of its diet. It bites off the hinge of the 
oyster, and scrapes out the animal with its paws. Like a 
squirrel, when eating a nut, the raccoon usually holds its 
food between its fore-paws pressed together and sits upon 
its hind quarters while it eats. It is said to be as destruc- 
tive in a farm-yard as any fox, for it only devours the 
heads of the murdered fowl. When taken young it is easily 
tamed but very frequently becomes blind soon after its 
capture. The coati {Nasua nasicd) is distinguished from the 
raccoon by a pointed nose. In size it resembles the cat, its 
tail being as long as its body. Like the cat it is a good 
climber, and preys upon birds. When domesticated, as it 
is in Paraguay, the coati is kept in tether, as its climbing 
habits render it dangerous to ornaments and furniture. The 
Kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudwolvulus) of Demerara belongs to 
this family. The Panda (JElurus fulgeni) constitutes another 
family. It is cat-like in the face, but otherwise resembles 
the bear. It lives in the dense forests which clothe the de- 
clivities of the Himalayas. 

The Bear. After the lion and the tiger the bear is 
probably the most popular animal in legend and story. 
Dr. Gray divides the bears into three classes: the sea bear, 

10 



146 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the land bear, and the honey bear. The polar bear is the 
sea bear; the brown bear, the black bear, and the grizzly 
are land bears, and the Malayan bear is the honey bear. 
Mr. Wood says, "Bears and their allies are mostly heavy, 
and walk with the whole foot placed flat on the ground, 
unlike cats and dogs who walk with merely their paws or 
toes. They are omnivorous, that is, they can eat either 
animal or vegetable food, so that a leg of mutton, a pot of 
honey, a potatoe, or an apple are equally acceptable." The 
bears of Kamtchatka live principally on fish, which they are 
adepts in catching. The bear is found in the polar regions, 
in Siberia, the Caucasus, the Pyrenees, the Himalayas, in 
various parts of Western Asia, in Canada, and the United 
States. 
The Polar The Polar Bear is eight or nine feet long, and 
Bear. a little more than four feet in height. He has 
a long nose, short ears, large legs, and a short tail. His 
body and neck are long, and he has five sharp claws on 
each foot. His colour is a yellowish white; his hair long 
and shaggy. He inhabits Greenland and Lapland, as far 
north as eighty degrees. He lives on fish and seals and 
the bodies of whales, which are thrown ashore or which he 
finds in the sea. Dr. R. Brown deprecates the stories of the 
polar bear's ferocity which he regards as greatly exaggerated, 
though he admits, that when enraged, or suffering from 
hunger, they are formidable foes. That they are wary animals 
the following story quoted from Captain Brown will show. 
" The captain of a Greenland whaler, being anxious to procure 
a bear without injuring the skin, made trial of a stratagem 
of laying the noose of a rope in the snow, and placing a 
piece of kreng within it. A bear, ranging the neighbouring 
ice, was soon enticed to the spot by the smell of burning 
meat. He perceived the bait, approached, and seized it in 
his mouth; but his foot, at the same time, by a jerk of the 
rope, being entangled in the noose, he pushed it off with his 



THE BEAR. 147 

paw, and deliberately retired. After having eaten the piece 
he had carried away with him, he returned. The noose, 
with another piece of kreng, having been replaced, he pushed 
the rope aside, and again walked triumphantly off with the 
bait. A third time the noose was laid ; but, excited to caution 
by the evident observations of the bear, the sailors buried 
the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep 
hole dug in the centre. The animal once more approached, 
and the sailors were assured of their success. But Bruin, 
more sagacious than they expected, after snuffing about the 
place for a few moments, scraped the snow away with his 
paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped unhurt with 
his prize." 

The polar bear displays a great love for its young and 
many pathetic stories are told of its rage and grief at 
the loss of them. The following is from Captain Brown's 
" Anecdotes of Animals. " " A Greenland bear, with two cubs 
under her protection, was pursued across a field of ice by a 
party of armed sailors. At first, she seemed to urge the 
young ones to increase their speed, by running before them, 
turning round, and manifesting, by a peculiar action and 
voice, her anxiety for their progress; but, finding her pursuers 
gaining upon them, she carried, or pushed, or pitched them 
alternately forward, until she effected their escape. In throwing 
them before her, the little creatures are said to have placed 
themselves across her path to receive the impulse, and, when 
projected some yards in advance, they ran onwards, until 
she overtook them, when they alternately adjusted themselves 
for another throw." 

The Black The Black Bear (Ursus Americanns) is about 
Bear. f our an( j a half feet long and three feet high. 
He has long feet terminating in five claws each. His body 
is short with longish legs, and he has a large head, with small 
eyes, and a sharp nose. He has long, soft and woolly hair. 
His food is chiefly fruit, such as acorns, chestnuts, grapes, 



148 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and corn; but when hungry he will feed on flesh, and attack 
other animals with courage and fierceness. He climbs trees, 
and uses his paws like hands. In winter he retires to his 
den, which is usually a hollow in some decayed tree, where 
he hybernates until spring. Though of a wild disposition, 
he can be tamed, and taught various tricks, in which he 
displays a good deal of sagacity and docility. The following 
story is quoted by Captain Brown from Captains Lewis' and 
Clarke's travels to the source of the Missouri, as a striking 
instance of the astonishing physical powers of the bear. 
" One evening, the men in the hindmost of the canoes, discov- 
ered a large bear lying in the open grounds, about three 
hundred paces from the river. Six of them, all good hunters, 
set out to attack him; and, concealing themselves by a small 
eminence, came unperceived within forty paces of him. Four 
of them now fired, and each lodged a ball in his body, two 
of them directly through the lungs. The enraged animal 
sprang up, and ran open-mouthed at them. As he came 
near, the two hunters who had reserved their fire, gave him 
two wounds, one of which, breaking his shoulder, retarded 
his motion for a moment; but, before they could reload, he 
was so near, that they were obliged to run to the river, and, 
when they reached it, he had almost overtaken them. Two 
jumped into the canoe; the other four separated, and, con- 
cealing themselves in the willows, fired as fast as each could 
load. They struck him several times, which only exasperated 
him; and he at last pursued two of them so closely, that 
they leaped down a perpendicular bank of twenty feet into 
the river. The bear sprang after them, and was within a 
few feet of the hindmost, when one of the hunters from the 
shore shot him in the head, and killed him. They dragged 
him to the banks of the river, and found that eight balls 
had passed through his body." 

Of his docility Mrs. Bowdich gives the following amusing, 
if. at the time, alarming illustration. "A young English officer, 



THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 1 49 

who was stationed at a lone fortress in Canada, amused 
himself by taming a bear of this species. He taught him 
to fetch and carry, to follow him like a dog, and to wait 
patiently at meal times for his share. The bear accompanied 
him when he returned to England, and became a great 
avourite with the passengers and the ship's company. Bruin, 
however, especially attached himself to a little girl about 
four years old, the daughter of one of the ladies on board, 
who romped with him as she would with a dog. In one of 
these games of play, he seized her with one fore-paw, and 
with the other clambered and clung to the rigging, till he 
lodged her and himself in the main-top, where, regardless 
of her cries and the agony of her mother, he tried to 
continue his romp. It would not do to pursue the pair, for 
fear the bear should drop the child ; and his master, knowing 
how fond he was of sugar, had some mattresses placed 
round the mast in case the child should fall, and then 
strewed a quantity of sugar on the deck; he called Bruin, 
and pointed to it, who, after a moment's hesitation, came 
down as he went up, bringing the child in safety. He was, 
of course, deprived of his liberty during the rest of his voyage." 
The black bear is hunted for the sake of his skin, many 
thousands of skins being sent to Europe every year. 
The Grizzly The Grizzly Bear is an enormous animal, accord- 
Bear. m g t the measurement of Captains Lewis and 
Clarke of one they killed, nine feet from nose to tail, though 
they claim to have seen one of even larger size. It is said 
to attain to a weight of 800 pounds. The fore-foot of 
the animal already referred to exceeded nine inches in 
length, the hind foot being eleven inches and three quar- 
ters, exclusive of the talons, the breadth of the hind foot 
being seven inches. The Grizzly does not climb trees, like 
the brown and the black bear. He is ferocious when hungry, 
and when attacked, and the female will die hard in the 
defence of her young. Such is his strength that he can 



150 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

master a bison, and drag him to his retreat. He is by far 
the most dangerous brute of North America. He unhesi- 
tatingly pursues both men and animals ; but, though he feeds 
on flesh, he is capable of subsisting upon roots and fruits. 
He is very tenacious of life, and will pursue his enemy after 
having received repeated mortal wounds. He is found in 
the eastern vicinity of the Rocky Mountains. Though the 
Grizzly will sometimes move off on the approach of the 
traveller, without showing fight, he will at other times attack 
him with great ferocity. A man named Nathan Rogers who 
lived on a ranch in the mountains about a mile above 
West Point, near the North Fork of the Mokelumne, once 
had a terrific encounter with a grizzly bear. He was out 
shooting small game when he was suddenly confronted by 
an enormous animal. He fired his only shot into the breast 
of the bear and then awaited his attack. The fight was 
fast and furious, and though in the end the grizzly was killed, 
the man only survived in a terrible condition. Conscious 
that he must soon have help or perish, he summoned all 
his resolution and staggered along, and managed to reach 
a spring in sight of a house, when his endurance gave way, 
and he fell in a dead faint by the water's edge. Fortunately 
he was soon discovered by his son, a lad of some twelve 
years, who immediately gave the alarm. In addition to his 
horrible wounds, the shock to his system was a terrible 
one. His left arm, literally mangled and torn to shreds, 
had to be amputated at the shoulder. His left clavicle and 
scapula were fractured, and the three lower ribs on the right 
side broken. The flesh and muscles on his back were so 
broken and abraded that the vertebrae were actually visible 
in places; while, his lower limbs were literally seamed and 
furrowed by the crooked claws of the bear's hind feet. The 
left side of the bear was literally torn to pieces, there being 
no less than twenty-two knife-wounds, nearly every one of 
which reached to a vital point. Some idea of his size 



THE BROWN BEAR. 15! 

can be obtained when we state that one of his fore-paws just 
covered an ordinary dinner plate. 

The The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) was the bear 

Brown Bear. f the British Isles, so long as the British 
Isles boasted of a bear. This was the baited bear of the 
Royal sports, and of the common Bear garden. His last 
appearance in Great-Britain in a wild state, however, dates 
back more than 800 years. In size, shape, and habits he 
much resembles the black bear of America. Like the Malayan 
bear he is very fond of honey as the following amusing story 
as told by Mrs Bowdich will show: 

" A countryman in Russia, when seeking honey, climbed a 
very high tree, the trunk of which was hollow; and finding 
there was a large quantity of comb in it, he descended, and 
stuck fast in the tenacious substance there deposited. He 
was so far distant from home, that his voice could not be 
heard, and he remained two days in this situation, relieving 
his hunger with the honey. He began to despair of ever 
being extricated, when a bear, who, like himself, came for 
the sake of the honey, slid down the hollow, hind-part fore- 
most. The man, in spite of his alarm, seized hold of him; 
and the bear, also in a great fright, clambered out as fast as 
he could, dragging the man up with him, and when clear of 
his tail-bearer, made off as fast as possible." 

The The Malayan Bear is about four feet long and 

Malayan Bear, two feet high. It has a long tongue which 
serves it well in extracting honey from the honey combs in 
the hollow trunks of trees. Other bears are the Syrian Bear 
of Western Asia, the Spectacled Bear of South America and 
Peru and the Sloth Bear of India and the Mahratta country. 
sub-order II. We come now to the second sub-order of the 
Tb e Carnivora or flesh-eating animals, the sub-order 

Pinnipedia. which includes the Seal and the Walrus. These 
in the form of their skulls and in other ways show evident rela- 
tionship to the bear, and so appropriately follow him in classifica- 



152 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

tion. The family of the Otaridse, includes the Eared Seals, 
the Northern Sea Lion and the Northern Sea Bear. The Eared 
Seal is distinguished from the true seal, as his name implies 
by the possession of external ears. 

Sea Lions. Mr. Theodore Lyman, who had excellent op- 
portunities of observing the habits of the Sea Lions on the 
Seal Rocks of San Francisco, furnished Mr. Allen with a 
graphic account of their movements, from which we quote the 
following : "As they approach to effect a landing, the head 
only appears decidedly above water. This is their familiar 
element and they swim with great speed and ease, quite 
unmindful of the heavy surf, and of the breakers on the 
ledges. In landing they are apt to take advantage of a 
heavy wave which helps them to get the forward flippers on 
terra firma. As the wave repeats they begin to struggle up 
the steep rocks, twisting the body from side to side, with a 
clumsy worm-like motion, and thus alternately work their 
flippers into positions, where they may force the body a 
little onward. At such times they have a general appearance 
of sprawling over the ground. It is quite astonishing to see 
how they will go up surfaces having even a greater inclina- 
tion than 45° and where a man would have to creep with 
much exertion. In their onward path they are accompanied 
by the loud barking of all the seals they pass; and these 
cries may be heard a great distance. They play among 
themselves continually by rolling on each other and feigning 
to bite ; often too, they will amuse themselves by pushing off 
those that are trying to land. All this is done in a very cum- 
brous manner, and is accompanied by incessant barking. As 
they issue from the water their fur is dark and shining; but as 
it dries, it becomes of a yellowish brown. Then they appear 
to feel either too dry or too hot, for they move to the nearest point 
from which they may tumble into the sea. I saw many roll off 
a ledge at least twenty feet high, and fall like so many huge 
brown sacks into the water, dashing up showers of spray." 



THE SEA BEAR. 153 

Sea Bears. The Northern Sea Bear is otherwise known 
as the Northern Fur Seal. Captain Charles Bryant gives a 
very interesting account of these singular animals, in which 
he describes them as approaching and taking possession of 
the shores of St. Paul's Island near the coast of Alaska, about 
the middle, or towards the end of April, when the snow has 
melted and the drift ice from the north has all passed. A 
few old male seals first make their appearance and reconnoitre 
for two or three days, afterwards climbing the slopes and 
taking possession of the rookeries, each male reserving about a 
square rod for himself and his wives. The scouts then 
return and younger male seals soon begin to arrive in small 
detachments, but are prevented from landing by their elders 
and are so forced to remain in the water or go to the upland 
above. By the middle of June all the males have arrived, 
and having adjusted their differences and divided the rook- 
eries between them, await the arrival of the females. " These 
appear in small numbers at first but increase as the season 
advances, till the middle of July; when the rookeries are all 
full, the females often overlapping each other. The bachelor 
seals swim all day along the shore, escorting and driving the 
females on to the rocks as fast as they arrive. As soon as 
a female reaches the shore, the nearest male goes down to 
meet her, making meanwhile a noise like the clucking of a 
hen to her chickens. He bows to her, and coaxes her 
until he gets between her and the water so that she cannot 
escape him. Then his manner changes, and with a harsh 
growl he drives her to* a place in his harem. This continues 
until the lower row of harems is nearly full. Then the males 
higher up select the time when their more fortunate neigh- 
bours are off their guard to steal their wives. This they do 
by taking them in their mouths and lifting them over the 
heads of the other females, and carefully placing them in 
their own harem carrying them as carefully as cats do their 
kittens. Those still higher up pursue the same method until 



154 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the whole space is occupied. Frequently a struggle ensues 
between two males for the possession of the same female, 
and both seizing her at once, pull her in two, or terribly, 
lacerate her with their teeth. When the space is all filled, 
the old male walks around complacently reviewing his family, 
scolding those who crowd or disturb the others, and fiercely 
driving off all intruders. This surveillance always keeps him 
actively occupied." After the birth^ of their young which 
takes place towards the end of July, the old males who have 
been four months without food, go to some distance from 
the shore to feed, teaching the young to swim on their 
return. " By the last of October the seals begin to leave the 
islands in small companies. The males going last and by 
themselves." 

The Walrus. The Walrus {Trichechus rosmarus) is a large and 
unwieldy creature. It bears a stronger resemblance to the 
seal than to any other quadruped, but it is distinguished by 
the proportions of its body and its elephant-like tusks. Vast 
herds formerly frequented the shores of the islands scattered 
between America and Asia, the coasts of Davis's Straits and 
those of Hudson's Bay. They have been found as far south 
as the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Now 
they are not met with in great numbers, except on the shores 
of Spitzbergen and the remotest northern borders of America. 
They attain to a very large size. The head is oval, short, 
small, and flat in front, having the eyes set in deep sockets 
so as to be moved forwards, or retracted at pleasure. On 
land the Walrus is a slow and clumsy animal, but in the 
water its motions are sufficiently quick and easy. When 
attacked, the Walrus is both fierce and formidable, and if in 
company with its young, becomes very furious, attempting to 
destroy its enemies by rising and hooking its tusks over 
the sides of the boat, in order to sink it. 

Captain Cook thus describes a herd of walruses he met 
with off the north coast of America. He says: "They lie 



THE SEAL. 155 

in herds of many hundreds upon the ice, huddling over one 
another, like swine; and roar or bray so very loud, that in 
the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the 
ice, before we could see it. We never found the whole herd 
asleep, some being always upon the watch. These, on the 
approach of the boat, would awake those next to them ; and 
the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd 
would be awake presently. But they were seldom in a hurry 
to get away, till after they had been once fired at. They 
then would tumble over one another into the sea, in the 
utmost confusion; and, if we did not, at the first discharge, 
kill those we fired at, we generally lost them, though mortally 
wounded. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous 
animal which some authors have described, not even when 
attacked. They are more so in appearance than reality. 
Vast numbers of them would follow, and come close up to 
the oars; but the flash of the musket in the pan, or even the 
bare pointing of one at them, would send them down in an 
instant. The female will defend her young to the very last, 
at the expense of her own life, whether in the water or upon 
the ice. Nor will the young one quit the dam, though she 
be dead; so that, if one is killed, the other is certain prey. 
The dam, when in the w T ater, holds the young one between 
her fore arms." 

The Common The True Seals are divided by Dr. Gray into 
Seal. thirteen genera with eighteen species, of which 
the Common Seal, the Ringed Seal, the Harp Seal, the Grey 
Seal, the Sea Leopard, the Sea Elephant, and the Bladder- 
nose Hooded Seal are the best known. The common seal 
has a round head which in front bears some resemblance to 
that of the otter. Its average length is about five feet and 
its general colour of a yellowish gray, varied or spotted with 
brown or blackish in different degrees, according to the age 
of the animal. The Common Seal frequents the sea-coasts 
perhaps throughout the world, but is most numerous in high 



156 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

northern latitudes, and furnishes the inhabitants of those frigid 
regions with nearly all their necessaries and luxuries. Enor- 
mous numbers are caught annually for the sake of their skins 
and oil. The Harp Seal frequents the coast of Newfoundland 
and is so named from the harp-shaped band which marks the 
backs of the males. The Sea Elephant is the largest of the 
seals. It is said to attain to the length of twenty-five to 
thirty feet, and a circumference of fifteen to eighteen feet. 
It belongs to the Antarctic sea. 

"Seals when taken young," says Captain Brown, "are 
capable of being completely domesticated, will answer to 
their name, and follow their master from place to place. In 
January, 18 19, a gentleman, in the neighbourhood of Burnt- 
island, county of Fife, in Scotland, completely succeeded in 
taming a seal. Its singularities attracted the curiosity of 
strangers daily. It appeared to possess all the sagacity of a 
dog, lived in its master's house, and ate from his hand. In 
his fishing excursions, this gentleman generally took it with 
him, when it afforded no small entertainment. If thrown into 
the water, it would follow for miles the track of the boat ; 
and although thrust back by the oars, it never relinquished 
its purpose. Indeed, it struggled so hard to regain its seat, 
that one would imagine its fondness for its master had entirely 
overcome the natural predilection for its native element." 
The Seal's Notwithstanding the absence of external ears 

Docility, the common seal has a remarkable sense of hear- 
ing and a keen taste for sweet sounds. Seals have been 
known to follow a vessel, for miles, upon the deck of which 
a violin or a flute has been played. To quote Sir Walter 
Scott: 

"Rude Heiskar's seals, through surges dark, 
Will long pursue the minstrel's bark." 

They are also easily tamed, when they are found to be 
exceedingly affectionate to those who treat them kindly. Some 
years ago a farmer, residing on the east coast of Scotland, 



THE SEAL. 157 

close to the sea-shore, obtained a young seal for the amuse- 
ment of his children, who soon became exceedingly fond 
of it. Some time after, the farmer, having had a bad year 
for his crops, was told by an old woman in the village that 
he would never prosper as long as he kept that seal on his 
ground. The foolish man giving heed to the superstition sent 
away the seal in a boat some distance from land. Towards 
evening, as the children were sitting on the sea-shore, what 
was their joy on beholding their seal rising out of the water, 
and making its way straight back to them again. For some 
months they were allowed to retain their pet; but as the 
farmer's prospects did not brighten, he again determined to 
get rid of it, and for that purpose, hearing of a ship that 
was soon to sail for the Baltic, took the little seal, and gave 
it in charge to some sailors, begging them to keep it in the 
hold of the ship till they arrived at their destination, and 
then to throw it into the sea. This was accordingly done, 
but the faithful seal was not to be daunted; ere long, it 
reappeared, to the great delight of the children, who begged 
their father never to send it away again. The farmer gave 
a doubtful assent, for a suspicion still lurked in his mind, 
owing to the superstitious words of the old woman, that the 
presence of the seal had an evil effect upon his crops ; and 
with these ideas preying upon his mind, the farmer conceived 
the cruel thought of putting out the seal's eyes with a view 
of preventing it from finding its way back, and again sending 
it away to sea. Unknown to his children, he carried this 
barbarous plan into execution ; and they only discovered the 
loss of their favourite too late to aid in its recall, as the ship 
in which it had been placed had already sailed for Noway. 
Some days after the departure of the vessel, a fearful storm 
arose. The farmer and his family were glad enough to close 
up their shutters, and shut out as much as possible the 
wailings of the wind, as it swept in furious gusts round the 
house. They had scarcely retired to rest, when a faint and 



158 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

plaintive cry struck upon their ears — and repeated again it 
seemed to be— during the momentary lulls of the storm. The 
farmer continued to listen, but hearing nothing more, he 
descended to the front door and opened it ; a dark object 
lay before him, on the very threshold, and stooping down 
to touch it, what was his astonishment to behold the poor 
blind, devoted little seal, apparently dead. The farmer was 
greatly touched ; he took up the little body gently and carried 
it into the kitchen, and used every effort to restore it to 
life but in vain. 

ORDER V This order is divided into two sub-orders, the 
Whales and one characterised by the possession of teeth, and 

Dolphins, the other being toothless. 

The Right The Right Whale when fully grown, attains to 
Whale. f rom fifty to sixty-five feet in length, and to from 
thirty to forty feet in circumference. It is thickest behind the 
fins. When the mouth is open, it presents a cavity as large as a 
room, and capable of containing a boat full of men. Its 
tongue is said to be as large as a stout feather-bed. The 
tail is a powerful instrument of motion and defence : it is 
only five or six feet long, but its motions are rapid, and its 
strength immense. The eyes are situated in the sides of the 
head; they are very small, being little larger than those of 
an ox. The whale has no external ear, but there is a small 
ori6ce under the skin for the admission of sound. On the 
most elevated part of the head are two blow holes six or 
eight inches in length. The mouth, instead of teeth, has 
two rows of whalebone, each of which contains more than 
three hundred laminae, the longest of which are about ten 
or eleven feet. A large whale sometimes contains a ton and 
a half of whalebone. The colour of the old whale is gray 
and white, that of the young ones a sort of bluish black. 
Immediately beneath the skin lies the blubber, or fat; its 
thickness round the body is eight or ten or twenty inches, 
varying in different parts : the lips are composed almost 



THE WHALE. 1 59 

entirely of blubber. A large whale yields about twenty tons 
of oil, which is expressed from the blubber. It is for this 
and the whalebone that this animal is deemed so valuable, 
and for which it is so much sought by whalefishers. The 
sense of seeing in the whale is very acute. Under the 
surface of the water they discover one another at an amazing 
distance. They have no voice, but in breathing or blowing 
they make a loud noise. 

The usual rate at which whales swim seldom exceeds four 
miles an hour, but for a few minutes at a time they are 
capable of darting through the water with amazing velocity, 
and of ascending with such rapidity as to leap above the 
surface. This feat they perform as an amusement, apparently 
to the high admiration of distant spectators. Sometimes they 
throw themselves in a perpendicular posture, with the head 
downwards, and rearing their tails on high, beat the water 
with awful violence. Sometimes they shake their tails in the 
air, which, cracking like a whip, resound to the distance of 
two or three miles. The flesh of the whale, though it would 
be rejected by the dainty palates of refined nations, is eaten 
with much relish by the Eskimo, and the inhabitants 
along the coasts of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits, who 
esteem it a staple article of subsistence. 

Other whales of this sub-order are the common Fin Whale, 
which is said to reach eighty feet in length, the lesser Fin 
Whale and the Humpback Whale. In these, the yield of 
whalebone and oil is so small that they are not thought 
worth the trouble of catching. 
The Sperm The Sperm Whale rarely exceeds sixty feet in 

"Whale, length and lives in warm regions, such as the 
Indian Ocean; rarely, if ever, visiting Arctic or European seas. 
Its yield of oil is said to be less than that of the Greenland 
whale but it is of a finer quality. Ambergris is also produced 
from the body of the sperm whale. 
The Dolphin. This is a large creature, so like the porpoise 



160 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

that he has been often confounded with it. He is, however, 
much larger, sometimes measuring from twenty to twenty-five 
feet in length. The body is roundish, growing gradually less 
towards the tail; the nose is long and pointed, the skin 
smooth, the back black or dusky blue, becoming white towards 
the belly. He is entirely destitute of gills, or any similar 
aperture, but respires and also spouts water through a pipe 
of semi-circular form placed on the upper part of the head. 
There are several varieties of dolphins, including the Long- 
nosed Dolphins of the rivers of Asia and South America and 
the Classical Dolphin of the Mediterranean (Delphinus delphis) 
The former are separately classified, and the family of the 
latter includes the White Whale, the Narwhal, the Common 
Porpoise and the Grampus. The dolphin is gregarious in its 
habits, herding and travelling in large shoals. It may some- 
times be seen sporting in the bays and rivers of New York 
and is always a pretty sight. 

The White The White Whale {Beluga catodon) is the whale 
Whale which Dr. R. Brown calls the whale of Green- 
land. It is the whale which the Greenlander and the Eskimo 
find so valuable for its oil and flesh, the latter of which they 
dry for winter use. They are sometimes called sea pigs, from 
a fancied resemblance they bear to the pig when floun- 
dering in the sea, and sometimes sea canaries, on account 
of their peculiar whistle, which resembles that of a bird. 

The Narwhal. The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is found 
frequently in company with the white whale, and inhabits 
much the same geographical area. It is distinguished by the 
possession of a tusk, the aim and purpose of which has been 
much debated. "It has been supposed to use it," says Dr. 
Brown, "to stir up its food from the bottom, but in such a 
case the female would be sadly at a loss. Fabricius thought 
that it was to keep the holes open in the ice during the 
winter; and the following occurrence seems to support this 
view. In April, i860, a Greenlander was travelling along the 



THE PORPOISE. l6l 

ice in the vicinity of Christianshaab, and discovered one of 
those open spaces in. the ice, which, even in the most severe 
winters, remain open. In this hole hundreds of narwhals 
and white whales were protruding their heads to breathe, 
no other place presenting itself for miles around. It was 
described to me as an Arctic ' Black Hole of Calcutta' in 
the eagerness of the animals to keep at the place." " Neither 
the narwhal nor the white whale," he continues, are timid 
animals, but will approach close to, and gambol for hours in 
the immediate vicinity of the ship." The oil is highly es- 
teemed, and the flesh is very palatable. The skin of the 
narwhal boiled to a jelly is looked upon, and justly so, as 
one of the prime dainties of a Greenlander. 
The Common The Porpoise resembles the dolphin in general 
Porpoise, appearance. Its length, from the tip of the snout 
to the end of the tail, is from five to eight feet; and the 
width about two feet and a half. The figure of the whole 
body is conical; the colour of the back is deep blue, inclining 
to shining black; the sides are gray, and the belly white. 
When the flesh is cut up, it looks very much like pork; but, 
although it was once considered a sumptuous article of food, 
and is said to have been occasionally introduced at the tables 
of the old English nobility, it certainly has a disagreeable 
flavour. Their motion in the water is a kind of circular 
leap; they dive deep, but soon again rise up in order 
to breathe. They are seen in nearly all seas, where they 
sport with great activity, chiefly on the approach of a 
squall. 

The The Grampus (Orca Gladiator) is the natural 

Grampus, enemy of the whale and the seal, who hold 
him in mortal terror. His swallow is so great that he can 
take a porpoise or a seal whole, and has been known to 
swallow several in succession. The whale escapes him by getting 
among the ice, whither it is said the grampus will not fol- 
low him. 

II 



1 62 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ORDER VI ^he Sea Cow is an aquatic vegetarian who 
The Sea lives on the coast. Of the three genera which 
Cow. constitute the family Manatidce, one is now said 

to be extinct. The genus Manatus contains two species, one 
belonging to South America and the other to the West Coast 
of Africa. The Dugong (Halicore Dugong) which attains to 
a length of nine or ten feet at maturity produces oil having 
similar medicinal properties to that obtained from the Cod's 
liver. It inhabits the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the neigh- 
bourhood of the Malay Islands and the North and East 
coasts of Australia. 

ORDER VII ^he order of hoofed animals includes a 
Hoofed number of well known species, of which the 
Animals. Horse, the Ass, the Ox and the Sheep among 
the tame, and the Rhinoceros, the Hippopotamus, the Boar and 
the Bison among the wild are familiar examples. The order 
is divided into two sub-orders and these into numerous 
families. The sub-orders are, I, The Perissodactyla, which 
includes three families of animals characterised by an odd 
number of toes in their hind feet, the horse having one, and 
the Rhinoceros three. II, The Artiodactyla which includes 
seven families of animals all having an even number of 
toes. 

The Horse. The horse stands first among the hoofed ani- 
mals, as the friend and servant of man. He has a history 
which is full of interest but which it is quite impossible to 
give within the limits of our present opportunity. He is 
mentioned in both classical and Biblical history at an early 
period, but there is reason to believe that he nourished in pre- 
historic times. He was used by the Greeks in their public 
games, the chariot race being one of their most popular forms 
of entertainment; he was also employed by them for the 
purposes of war, of w T hich the writings of Homer and other 
classical authors give abundant proof. First used apparently 
to draw the chariot only, the adaptation of the means to the 



THE HORSE. 1 63 

end soon suggested to man the propriety of mounting his 
back, and from the throne he thus acquired man has since 
conquered the whole world. Man's first appearance on horse- 
back doubtless suggested the fable of the Centaur; those 
unaccustomed to the sight imagining that they beheld a monster, 
half man and half horse, as it is said the aborigines of 
America did when they first saw Spanish equestrians. The 
Egyptians are said to have been the first to cultivate the 
horse, and the Persians the first to use him in battle. 

Arabian The beauty, strength and speed of the Arabian 

Horses, horse are well known, and the affection which 
subsists between him and his master is the basis of many 
a pathetic story. These horses are generally of a brown colour; 
the mane and tail being short, and the hair black and 
tufted. The Arabs for the most part use the mares in their 
ordinary excursions, as they are less vicious than the males, 
and are more capable of sustaining abstinence and fatigue. 

The Arab often shares his tent with his mare, the husband, 
the wife, the child, the mare, and the foal, lying together 
indiscriminately; and the youngest branches of the family 
embracing the neck, or reposing on the body, of the mare, 
without any idea of fear or danger. 

St. Pierre in his " Studies of Nature " tells a pretty story of 
the Arab's affection for his horse : " The whole stock of a 
poor Arabian of the desert consisted of a beautiful mare; 
this the French consul at Said offered to purchase, with an 
intention to send her to Louis XIV. The Arab, pressed 
by want, hesitated a long time, but at length consented, on 
condition of receiving a very considerable sum of money, 
which he named. The consul wrote to France for permission 
to close the baigain; and, having obtained it, sent the 
information to the Arab. The man, so indigent as to possess 
only a miserable covering for his body, arrived with his 
magnificent courser; he dismounted, and first looking at the 
gold, then steadfastly at his mare, heaved a sigh. 'To 



164 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

whom is it/ exclaimed he, 'that I am going to yield thee 
up? To Europeans! who will tie thee close, who will beat 
thee, who will render thee miserable! Return with me, my 
beauty, my jewel! and rejoice the hearts of my children. ' 
As he pronounced the last words, he sprang upon her back, 
and was out of sight almost in a moment." This story 
forms the subject of the well known ballad by the Hon. 
Mrs. Norton, entitled " The Arab's farewell to his steed." 

Clarke thus describes the way in which the Arab will address 
a horse: — "Ibrahim went frequently to Rama to inquire 
news of the mare whom he dearly loved; he would embrace 
her, wipe her eyes with his handkerchief, would rub her 
with his shirt sleeves, would give her a thousand benedictions 
during whole hours that he would remain talking to her. 
'My eyes! my soul! my heart!' he would say, 'must I be 
so unfortunate as to have thee' sold to so many masters, and 
not keep thee myself? I am poor, my antelope! I brought 
thee up in my dwelling as a child; I did never beat nor 

chide thee " Arabs have been known to refuse enormous 

sums for horses, though actually themselves in a condition of 
extreme want. That the horse can reciprocate the kindness 
shown to him is proved by many a story of his fidelity. Chateau- 
briand says, " When I was at Jerusalem the feats of one of 
these steeds made a great noise. The Bedouin to whom 
the animal, a mare, belonged, being pursued by the govern- 
or's guards, rushed with her from the top of the hills that 
overlooked Jericho. The mare scoured at 'full gallop down 
an almost perpendicular declivity without stumbling, and left 
the soldiers lost in admiration and astonishment. The poor 
creature, however, dropped down dead on entering Jericho, 
and the Bedouin, who would not quit her, was taken, 
weeping over the body of his faithful companion." 

More romantic is the story told by M. de Lamartine, thus 
quoted by Mrs. Bowdich. " An Arab chief and the tribe to 
which he belonged attacked a caravan in the night, and were 



THE ARABIAN HORSE. 165 

returning with their plunder, when some horsemen belonging 
to the Pasha of Acre surrounded them, killed several, and 
bound the rest with cords. Among the latter was the chief 
Abou el Marek, who was carried to Acre, and, bound hand 
and foot, laid at the entrance of their tent during the night. 
Kept awake by the pain of his wounds he heard his horse, 
who was picketed at a distance from him, neigh. Wishing 
to caress him, perhaps for the last time, he dragged himself 
up to him, and said, ' Poor friend ! what will you do among 
the Turks? You will be shut up under the roof of a khan, 
with the horses of a Pasha or an Aga. No longer will the 
women and children of the tent bring you barley, camel's 
milk, or dhourra, in the hollow of their hands; no longer 
will you gallop free as the wind in the desert; no longer will 
you cleave the waters with your breast, and lave your sides, 
as pure as the foam from your lips. If I am to be a slave, 
at least you may go free. Return to our tent, tell my wife 
that Abou el Marek will return no more; but put your head 
still into the folds of the tent, and lick the hands of my 
beloved children.' With these words, as his hands were 
tied, the chief with his teeth undid the fetters which held 
the courser bound, and set him at liberty; but the noble 
animal, on recovering his freedom, instead of galloping away 
to the desert, bent his head over his master, and seeing him 
in fetters and on the ground, took his clothes gently between 
his teeth, lifted him up, and set off at full speed towards 
home. Without resting he made straight for the distant 
but well-known tent in the mountains of Arabia. He arrived 
there in safety, laid his master down at the feet of his wife 
and children, and immediately dropped down dead with 
fatigue. The whole tribe mourned him, the poets celebrated 
his fidelity, and his name is still constantly in the mouths 
of the Arabs of Jericho." 

For the sake of the beautiful moral it contains the follow- 
ing story is well worth adding. In the tribe of Negde there 



166 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

was a mare of great reputation for beauty and swiftness, 
which a member of another tribe named Daber desired to 
possess. Having failed to obtain her by offering all he was 
worth, he sought to effect his object by stratagem. Disguised 
as a lame beggar he waited by a roadside, knowing that 
Nabee, the owner of the horse, would shortly pass that way. 
As soon as Nabee appeared, Daber cried out to him, begging 
assistance and pretending to be too weak to rise. Nabee 
thereupon dismounted from the mare, and helped the beggar 
to mount her. The moment he was mounted Daber declared 
himself and made off. Nabee called to him to stop, and on 
his turning round said to him, "Thou hast my mare, since 
it pleased God I wish you success but I conjure thee tell no 
one how thou hast come by her." "Why not?" said Daber. 
" Lest others should refrain from charity because I have been 
duped," said Nabee, whereupon Daber dismounted and 
returned the mare. 

The Domestic The Horse has only to be known to be loved, 
Horse. an( j nas on iy to be loved to become the most 
tractable, patient, and useful of animals. " In the domestic 
horse, " says Colonel Smith, " we behold an animal equally 
strong and beautiful, endowed with great docility and no less 
fire; with size and endurance joined to sobriety, speed, and 
patience; clean, companionable, emulous, even generous; for- 
bearing, yet impetuous; with faculties susceptible of very 
considerable education, and perceptions which catch the 
spirit of man's intentions, lending his powers with the utmost 
readiness, aud restraining them with as ready a compliance: 
saddled or in harness, labouring willingly, enjoying the sports 
of the field and exulting in the tumult of the battle; used 
by mankind in the most laudable and necessary operations, 
and often the unconscious instrument of the most sanguinary 
passions ; applauded, cherished, then neglected, and ultimately 
abandoned to the authority of bipeds who often show little 
superiority of reason and much less of temper." " One who, 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 1 67 

like ourselves," continues Colonel Smith, "has repeatedly 
owed life to the exertions of his horse, in meeting a hostile 
shock, in swimming across streams, and in passing on the 
edge of elevated precipices, will feel with us, when con- 
templating the qualities of this most valuable animal, emo- 
tions of gratitude and affection which others may not so 
readily appreciate." 
The struc- " ^^ e b eau ty °f tne f° rm of the horse has often 
ture of a been commented upon, his structure is thus admir- 
Horse. ^ly described by a writer in " Cassell's Magazine 
of Art " : " His nature is eminently courageous, without ferocity, 
generous, docile, intelligent, and, if allowed to be so, almost 
as affectionate as the dog. In his structure, the ruling charac- 
teristic may be said in one word to consist in obliquity — all 
the leading bones in his frame are set obliquely, or nearly 
so, and not at right angles. His head is set on with a subtle 
curve of the last few vertebrae of the neck, which at the 
shoulders, take another subtle curve before they become the 
dorsal vertebrae, or backbone; which end, in their turn, with 
another curve, forming the tail. His shoulders slope back 
more than those of other quadrupeds, the scapula, or shoul- 
der-blade, being oblique to the humerus, which, in its turn, 
is oblique to the radius, or upper part of the fore-leg. So, 
again, in the hind-quarters, the haunch is set obliquely to the 
true thigh, the thigh, at the stifle joint, to the upper bone 
of the hind-leg, which at the hock makes another angle. 
The fore and hind quarters form so large a portion of the 
entire length that a horse, though a lengthy animal from the 
front of the chest to the back of the haunch, is, compara- 
tively, very short in the actual back or 'saddle-place.' Then 
his hocks are much bent, and his pastern joints are rather 
long, and again are set at an angle, succeeded by a slightly 
different angle in the firm but expanding hoof, thus com- 
pleting the beautiful mechanism, which preserves the limbs 
from jar, and ensures elasticity in every part of an animal 



1 68 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

destined to carry weight and to undergo rapid and continued 
exertion — a combination not existing in any other quadruped 
to anything like the same degree, and fitting him precisely 
for the purposes for which he was given to man. At present 
we have said nothing about his head, every part of which is 
equally characteristic. His well-shaped, delicate ears are 
capable of being moved separately in every direction, and 
every movement is full of meaning and in sympathy with 
the eye. The eye is prominent, full, and large, and placed 
laterally, so that he can see behind him without turning his 
head, his heels being his principal weapon of defence; his 
nostrils are large, open and flexible, and his lips fleshy, 
though thin, and exquisitely mobile and sensitive. The large, 
open nostril is essential to him, as a horse breathes solely 
and entirely through it, being physically incapable of breath- 
ing through his mouth, as a valve in the throat actually 
precludes him from so doing; hence the mouth of a horse, 
without a bridle in it, is opened only for purposes of eating 
or biting, but never from excitement or from exhaustion, like 
that of most other quadrupeds, except the deer species. The 
lips are, perhaps, even more characteristic; they are his 
hands as well as part of his mouth, and the horse and 
others of his family alone use them in this way. The ox, 
the sheep, the goat, the deer, the giraffe above all, and, in 
fact, we believe all graminivorous animals except the horse, 
either bite their food directly with the teeth, or grasp and 
gather it with the tongue, which is prehensile, and gifted 
with more or less power of prolongation; but the horse's 
tongue has no such function, and, therefore, no such powers, 
as these services are all performed in his case by the lips : 
and no horseman, who has let a favourite horse pick up 
small articles of food from the palm of his hand, can have 
failed to be struck with the extreme mobility, and also the 
sensibility and delicacy of touch, with which the lips are 
endowed." 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 1 69 

The Horse's The quality of speed for which the horse is 
Speed. so justly esteemed has been the subject of ex- 
tensive culture in which the Arabian horse has contributed 
no mean share. "Some of the horses first brought from 
Arabia having been by no means celebrated," says Captain 
Brown, "the breed had fallen into disrepute, till the descendants 
of one procured by Mr. Darley from the deserts, and on 
that account called the Darley Arabian, having borne away 
the palm for fleetness from all others, turned the tide of 
fashion in favour of that breed. Yet it is only the progeny 
of the Arabian horses that excels. The English race-horses 
are equal, if not superior, to all other coursers. As the ex- 
traordinary swiftness of the horse has been most signally 
displayed in the English race-course, and can also be there 
most precisely measured, we cannot omit the notice of some 
of the most remarkable of our racers. The most celebrated 
of these — and indeed the fleetest horse that ever was bred 
in the world — was Flying Childers, got by the Darley Arabian. 
What Achilles was among warriors, and Caesar among con- 
querors, such was Childers among horses, without an equal 
and without a rival. He ran against the most famous horses 
of his age, and was always victorious. He has been known 
to move at the rate of nearly a mile in the minute. Next 
to Childers, in fame and fleetness, is Eclipse, so called from 
having been foaled during the great eclipse of 1764. This 
horse likewise was never beaten : one contemporary rival alone 
was supposed to exist, Mr. Shaftoe's horse Goldfinder, but 
Goldfinder broke down the October before the proposed 
competition. Eclipse's rate of going was 47 feet in the second. 
Childers had a rate of 49. One hundred to one were offered 
on Eclipse against the most famous racers of his day. Mr. 
O'Kelly purchased him for sixteen hundred and fifty guineas, 
and cleared by him twenty-five thousand pounds. He had 
a vast stride, — never horse threw his haunches below him 
with more vigour or effect; and his hind legs were so spread 



170 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

in his gallop, that a wheelbarrow might have been driven 
between them. King Herod, another famous horse, which 
was generally, though not like Eclipse uniformly, successful, is 
chiefly celebrated for his progeny ; his immediate descendants 
having gained to their owners above two hundred thousand 
pounds." 

The Horse's Many marvellous stories are told of the en- 
Endurance. durance of the horse. Sir John Malcolm says, 
" Small parties of Toorkomans, who ventured several hundred 
miles into Persia, used both to advance and retreat at the 
average of nearly one hundred miles a day. They train 
their horses for these expeditions as we should do for a race, 
and describe him when in a condition for a foray by saying 
that his flesh is marble. When I was in Persia, a horseman 
mounted upon a Toorkoman horse, brought a packet of letters 
from Shiraz to Teherary, which is a distance of five hundred 
miles, within six days." Almost equally remarkable records 
are held by English horses, but the invention of the loco- 
motive has done away with the necessity for such trying 
expeditions in civilized countries, and the horse is trained 
more for speed and strength than for such long distance 
efforts. M. de Pages in his travels round the world, tells a 
remarkable story of the endurance of the horse when out of 
his natural element; he says, "I should have found it diffi- 
cult to give it credit had it not happened at this place 
(the Cape of Good Hope) the evening before my arrival; 
and if, besides the public notoriety of the fact, I had nol 
been an eyewitness of those vehement emotions of sympathy, 
blended with admiration, which it had justly excited in the 
mind of every individual at the Cape. A violent gale oi 
wind setting in from north and north west, a vessel in the 
road dragged her anchors, was forced on the rocks and 
bulged; and, while the greater part of the crew fell an im- 
mediate sacrifice to the waves, the remainder were seen from 
the shore struggling for their lives, by clinging to the different 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. I 7 I 

pieces of the wreck. The sea ran dreadfully high, and broke 
over the sailors with such amazing fury, that no boat what- 
ever could venture off to their assistance. Meanwhile a 
planter, considerably advanced in life, had come from his 
farm to be a spectator of the shipwreck; his heart was melted 
at the sight of the unhappy seamen, and knowing the bold 
and enterprising spirit of his horse, and his particular excel- 
lence as a swimmer, he instantly determined to make a des- 
perate effort for their deliverance. He alighted and blew a 
little brandy into his horse's nostrils, and again seating himself 
in the saddle, he instantly pushed into the midst of the 
breakers. At first both disappeared, but it was not long 
before they floated on the surface, and swam up to the 
wreck; when taking with him two men, each of whom held 
by one of his boots, he brought them safe to shore. This 
perilous expedition he repeated no seldomer than seven times, 
and saved fourteen lives ; but, on his return the eighth time, 
his horse being much fatigued, and meeting a most formid- 
able wave, he lost his balance and was overwhelmed in a 
moment. The horse swam safely to land, but his gallant 
rider was no more!" 

The Horse's Many remarkable instances are recorded of the 
Memory, exercise of the faculty of memory by horses. 
Colonel Smith mentions an instance of a horse which he 
had used for two years while in the army abroad, and 
which some years later made himself known to his old 
master with every demonstration of pleasure, though harnessed 
to a mail coach. " That the horse remembers the scenes 
and transactions of past times," says Captain Brown, "is 
proved from every day's experience. It enters familiarly 
into its usual abode; inclines to stop at its ordinary halting- 
place; prefers a journey which it has formerly taken, and 
falls readily into an occupation to which it has been accus* 
tomed. It seeks the fields in which it has formerly pastured, 
and has been known long afterwards to repair to the scenes 



172 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

of its earlier days. A horse belonging to a gentleman of 
Taunton strayed from a field at Corfe, three miles distant 
from thence. After a long and troublesome search, he was 
discovered on a farm at Branscombe, in Devon, a distance 
of twenty-three miles, being the place where he was foaled, 
although it is certain that the animal had not been there 
for ten years, during the whole of which time he had been 
in the possession of the gentleman who then owned him." 
Horses seem to have a similar sense of locality to that for 
which dogs are so famous. A horse will find its way home 
when its master cannot see a yard before him, instances 
being recorded of parties lost in the snow which covered 
all tracks, who only saved their lives by letting a horse 
loose and following him. Captain Brown gives two 
instances of horses who on becoming ill, found their way 
to the veterinary surgeon, who had previously treated them, 
entirely of their own accord. Instances are recorded also 
of Cavalry horses, who, on hearing thunder while out grazing, 
have mistaken it for the sound of cannon and who with 
great excitement have formed themselves into line and 
"presented the front of a field of war". Old Hunters who 
have become coach horses have been known upon hearing 
the hounds, at the moment of " changing" to dash after 
them with their harness on their backs and riderless and 
guideless follow the hunt for hours. These are instances of 
the ruling passion strong in after life, or perhaps more 
correctly speaking of the force of habit, of which there are 
countless illustrations. Kosciusko had a horse which he 
once lent to a young man whom he employed upon a 
commission, but who on his return declared that he would 
never use the horse again unless also supplied with his master's 
purse; for said he, "as soOn as a poor man on the road 
takes off his hat and asks charity the animal immediately 
stands still, and will not stir until something is bestowed 
upon the petitioner; and as I had no money about me I 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 173 

had to feign giving, in order to satisfy the horse and induce 
him to proceed." Such loyalty to habit, however interesting, 
is not always convenient, as the following, which I quote 
from "Anecdotes in Natural History" by the Rev. F. O. 
Morris will show. 

"Towards the close of last century, when volunteers were 
first embodied in the different towns, an extensive line of 
turnpike road was in progress of construction in a part of the 
north. The clerk to the trustees upon this line used to send 
one of his assistants to ride along occasionally, to see that 
the contractors, who were at work in a great many places, 
were doing their work properly. The assistant, on these 
journeys, rode a horse which had for a long time carried a 
field officer, and, though aged, still possessed a great deal of 
spirit. One day, as he was passing near a town of considerable 
size which lay on the line of road, the volunteers were at 
drill on the common; and the instant the horse heard the 
drum he leaped the fence, and was speedily at that post in 
front of the volunteers which would have been occupied by 
the commanding officer of a regiment on parade or at drill; 
nor could the rider by any means get him off the ground 
until the volunteers retired to the town. As long as they kept 
the field the horse took the proper place of a commanding 
officer in all their manoeuvres, and he marched at the head 
of the corps into the town, prancing in military style as 
cleverly as his stiffened legs would allow him, to the great 
amusement of the volunteers and spectators, and to the no 
small annoyance of the clerk." 

Perhaps no more amusing illustration of this force of habit 
could be found than that cited by Captain Brown of a Scotch 
lawyer who purchased a horse at Smithfield upon which to 
make a journey north. The horse was a handsome one and 
started well, but on reaching Finchley common, at a place 
where the road ran down a slight eminence, and up another, 
the lawyer met a clergyman driving a one horse chaise. 



174 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

" There was nobody within sight, and the horse by his 
manoeuvre instantly discovered the profession of his former 
owner. Instead of pursuing his journey he laid his counter 
close up to the chaise and stopped it, having no doubt but his 
rider would embrace so fair an opportunity of exercising his 
profession. The clergyman seemed of the same opinion, 
produced his purse unasked, and assured the astonished 
lawyer, that it was quite unnecessary to draw his pistol as he 
did not intend to offer any resistance. The traveller rallied 
his horse, and with many apologies to the gentleman he had 
so innocently and unwillingly affrighted, pursued his journey. 
The horse next made the same suspicious approach to a 
coach, from the windows of which a blunderbuss was levelled 
with denunciations of death and destruction to the hapless 
and perplexed rider. In short, after his life had been once 
or twice endangered by the suspicions to which the conduct 
of his horse gave rise, and his liberty as often threatened by 
the peace-officers, who were disposed to apprehend him as 
a notorious highwayman, the former owner of the horse, he 
was obliged to part with the inauspicious animal for a trifle, 
and to purchase at a large price one less beautiful, but not 
accustomed to such dangerous habits." 

The Horse's Of the larger quadrupeds the horse is said to 
Intelligence. b e nly second in intelligence to the Elephant, 
and many proofs could be given of the high standard of 
intelligence to which he sometimes attains. The Rev. F. O. 
Morris says, — "We knew a blind coach-horse that ran one 
of the stages on the great north road for several years, and 
so perfectly was he acquainted with all the stables, halting- 
places, and other matters, that he was never found to commit 
a blunder. He could never be driven past his own stable; 
and at the sound of the coming coach he would turn out, of 
his own accord, into the stable-yard. So accurate was his 
knowledge of time, that though half-a-dozen coaches halted 
at the same inn daily, he was never known to stir till the 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 1 75 

sound of his own coach, the " ten o'clock " was heard in the 
distance." The intelligence of this horse was somewhat cir- 
cumscribed but it was perfect within its limits. Colonel Smith, 
as already quoted, says, " Bipeds who exercise authority over 
horses, often show little superiority of reason, and much less 
of temper." The way in which horses have preserved mas- 
ters who have rendered themselves incapable of taking care 
of themselves is proof of this. A horse has been known to 
poke his nose in at a tavern door and shake his master by 
the shoulder, when he has been lingering too long over his 
potations. Another horse whose master from a similar cause 
was unable to keep his seat watched by his side in the road 
all night, and on being discovered by some labourers in the 
early morning vigorously resented their attempts to awaken 
him. Professor Kruger of Halle says, " A friend of mine was 
one dark night riding home through a wood, and had the 
misfortune to strike his head against the branch of a tree, and 
fell from his horse, stunned by the blow. The horse imme- 
diately returned to the house which they had left, about a 
mile distant. He found the door closed, and the family gone 
to bed. He pawed at the door till one of them, hearing the 
noise, arose and opened it, and to his surprise saw the horse 
of his friend. No sooner was the door opened than the 
horse turned round, and the man, suspecting there was 
something wrong, followed the animal, which led him directly 
to the spot where his master lay on the ground in a faint." 
A pony has been known to leap into a canal and save 
the life of a child in danger of drowning, and a cart horse 
to lift a child out of the road and place it carefully on the 
side walk before proceeding with his load. A remarkable 
illustration of the intelligence of the horse under circumstances 
in which most human beings would have lost all presence of 
mind, is quoted by Captain Brown. " In the month of April, 
1794, owing to a strong wind blowing contrary to the current 
of the river, the island Kroutsand, surrounded by the two 



176 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

branches of the Elbe, became entirely covered with water, 
to the great alarm of the horses, which, with some foals, had 
been grazing on it. They set up a loud neighing, and col- 
lected themselves together within a small space. To save 
the foals that were now standing up to their bellies in water 
seemed to be the object of their consultation. They adopted 
a method at once ingenious and effective. Each foal was 
arranged between horses, who pressed their sides together so 
as to keep them wedged up, and entirely free from injury 
from the water. They retained this position for six hours, 
nor did they relinquish their burden till the tide having ebbed 
and the water subsided, the foals were placed out of danger." 
Horse Play. Horse-play is a term which conveys the idea 
of rough if not brutal romping, and yet the horse can be 
gentle in its friendships and considerate in its dealings with 
weaker animals, and with children to a remarkable degree. 
White in his "Natural History of Selborne", tells of a curious 
friendship between a horse and a hen. " These two incon- 
gruous animals spent much of their time together in a lonely 
orchard, where they saw no creature but each other. By 
degrees an apparent regard began to take place between the 
two sequestered individuals; the fowl would approach the 
horse with notes of complacency, rubbing herself quietly 
against his legs, while the horse would look down with satis- 
faction, and move with the greatest caution and circumspec- 
tion, lest he should trample on his diminutive companion." 
A similar friendship is recorded as between a horse and a 
sheep, whom circumstances threw much in company. Both 
gregarious animals and both failing of companionships of their 
own kind, they found solace in their loneliness in a beautiful 
if curious friendship. The gentleness of horses in dealing 
with children has often been remarked, even when within the 
confined limits of a stable they will use the utmost circumspec- 
tion as to movements lest they should inadvertently tread upon 
their playfellows. Mr. Morris tells of a plough horse who 



THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 1 77 

was too tall for his little master to mount and who used to 
put his head down to the ground and allow the boy to 
bestride his neck and then by gently elevating his head help 
him to slide on to his back. Horses have been known to 
allow liberties to children that they would not allow to their 
elders, a remarkable illustration of which is given by Cap- 
tain Brown. A hunter who always violently resented any 
attempt on the part of his grooms to trim his fetlocks, was 
once the subject of conversation in his master's house, when 
the master defied any man "to perform the operation singly." 
On the following day when passing through the stable-yard 
he was astonished and alarmed at seeing his youngest child, 
who had been an unnoticed listener to the conversation the 
night before, with a pair of scissors, clipping the fetlocks of 
the horse's hind legs, the horse watching the operation with 
evident satisfaction. It is, however, as between horses and 
dogs that the truest affinity appears to exist of animals of 
different families, and numerous anecdotes are told in illus- 
tration of these friendships. Captain Brown gives the follow- 
ing: "Doctor Smith, a practising physician in Dublin, had no 
other servant to take charge of his horse while at a patient's 
door, than a large Newfoundland dog; and between the two 
animals, a very good understanding subsisted. When he 
wished to pass to another patient without remounting, he 
needed but to give a signal to the pair, who followed him 
in the most perfect good order. The dog also led the horse 
to the water, and would give him a signal to leap over a stream. 
While performing this on one occasion, the dog lost hold of 
the reins, when the horse, having cleared the leap, trotted 
back to the dog, who resumed the reins." 

"A gentleman in Bristol had a greyhound which slept in 
the same stable, and contracted a very great intimacy with 
a fine hunter. When the dog was taken out the horse 
neighed wistfully after him; he welcomed him home with a 
neigh ; the greyhound ran up to the horse and licked him . 

12 



178 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the horse, in return, scratched the greyhound's back with his 
teeth. On one occasion, when the groom had the pair out 
for exercise, a large dog attacked the greyhound, bore him 
to the ground, and seemed likely to worry him, when the 
horse threw back his ears, rushed forward, seized the strange 
dog by the back and flung him to a distance which the 
animal did not deem it prudent to make less." 

The horse's sympathy with his own kind must, however, 
not pass without mention. Horses have been known to 
masticate food for their toothless companions, an instance 
being recorded by M. de Boussanelle, a cavalry officer, of a 
horse belonging to his company who was fed for two months 
in this way by the horses stationed on either side of him. 
Whether the horses in the following case were actuated by 
sympathy or fear, the story deserves to be retold for its 
extreme pathos. When Sir John Moore's soldiers embarked 
after the battle of Corunna, orders were given that the troop 
horses should be shot, rather than that they should fall into 
the hands of the enemy. "These horses," says Colonel Smith, 
" witnessing their companions fall one after another, stood 
trembling with fear, and by their piteous looks seemed to 
implore mercy from the men who had been their riders, until 
the duty imposed upon the dragoons who had been intrusted 
with the execution of the order became unbearable, and the 
men turned away from the task with scalding tears : hence 
the French obtained a considerable number unhurt, and 
among them several belonging to officers who, rather than 
destroy them, had left their faithful chargers with billets 
attached recommending them to the kindness of the enemy." 

The Ass. The ass is an animal which seems to be more 
than ordinarily affected by its surroundings and treatment. 
In eastern countries where it is well cared for, and employed 
in the service of the rich, it rises to the occasion and becomes 
both graceful and spirited in action and elegant and refined 
in appearance : in the west where it is discarded for the sake 



THE ASS. 179 

of the horse, and used almost solely as a beast of heavy 
burden, often suffering great cruelty and hardship, it seems to 
lose spirit and become dull and obstinate, as people do who, 
crushed by hard circumstances, lose hope. The ass has an 
ancient and honourable history which dates back apparently 
as far as that of the horse. He is mentioned alike by sacred 
and profane writers, Job and Homer making flattering reference 
to him. In Syria and Persia, where he is cultivated, he attains 
to a much larger size than in the west, where he may 
be described as about two-thirds the size of the horse. In 
ancient times these animals fetched very large sums, sums 
which in our day would be considered very large for a horse, a 
stallion mentioned by Pliny realising a sum exceeding ^3000. 
"No domestic animal," says Colonel Smith, "in proportion 
to its bulk, can carry a greater weight, or continue to labour 
longer without sustenance. The ass is emphatically the poor 
man's horse in every country ; and if care were taken of the 
breed, and well selected animals imported from Arabia, a 
very useful and handsome race might be reared." Though 
the ordinary ass is slow and obstinate, his eastern cousin is 
both fleet and obedient, and remarkable feats have been 
performed by half breeds. A half-bred, Spanish and English, 
of twelve and a half hands high, belonging to Mr. Wilson of 
Ipswich, drew a light gig from Ipswich to London and back 
again, a distance of 140 miles, in two days. He is said to 
have maintained a pace little short of that of a good gig 
horse and to have performed the whole journey with ease, 
finishing it without whip, at the rate of seven miles an hour. 
Though patient above most animals, the ass will sometimes 
turn like the proverbial worm, and instances are known 
in which he has adopted the offensive with effect. Some 
years ago, a bull dog which had been set on to an ass, was 
caught by the latter in his teeth, carried to the river Derwent 
and held under water until he was drowned. Donkeys have 
often been known after enduring great provocation from boys 



180 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

to turn on their assailants and put them to speedy and 
anxious flight. 
The Sagacity Dull though he appears to be, the ass show 
of the Ass. himself on occasion to be possessed of no little 
invention in matters that concern his liberty and comfort. 
His aptitude for lifting latches and drawing bolts has often 
been observed. Mr. Fuller describes the actions of an ass 
he saw, who put his head sideways between the bars of 
a gate and turning it into its normal position lifted the 
gate over the latch and pushed it forward, withdrawing his 
head after he had opened the gate and proceeding to enjoy 
the dainties of the field into which he had thus effected an 
entrance. A still more remarkable instance is given by Mr. 
East who says: "While living on the Sussex coast, I had 
myself a very fine donkey, which was a remarkably docile 
and knowing animal. He was the constant companion of my 
children in their rambles on the downs, and on those occa- 
sions seemed to think he had a right to share in all the 
eatables and drinkables, and would do so most readily, 
whether cakes, apples, oranges, sweetmeats, milk, or even 
tea ; ginger-beer being the only exception. With this he was 
thoroughly disgusted, in consequence of the cork, which had 
been expelled from the bottle with the usual loud report, 
having struck him on the nose. This he never forgot; but 
would quickly march off whenever a ginger-beer bottle was 
produced. But his cleverness and cunning were more especi- 
ally shown in the following incident : — His lodging-place at 
night was a small, open shed, whence he had free access to 
a yard ; but not, of course, to the kitchen-garden which 
adjoined it. The latter was separated from the yard by a 
wall and door, fastened securely, as we imagined, by two 
bolts and an ordinary latch. We were, however, surprised to 
find that the door had been unfastened during the night, 
while the footprints of the donkey on the garden walks and 
beds too plainly told who had been the trespasser. Still we 



THE ASS. 181 

could hardly suppose he could have drawn the bolts and 
let himself in, especially as the upper bolt was fixed at a 
considerable height. This, however, proved to have been the 
case ; for my bedroom overlooking the yard and garden, I 
one night watched at the window, and distinctly saw master 
donkey, reared on his hind legs, unfastening the upper bolt 
with his nose or mouth. He then withdrew the lower one, 
lifted the latch, and walked quietly into the garden. In a 
few minutes I further observed him returning to his shed with 
a large bunch of carrots, which he deposited in his shed, and 
then went back — not, certainly, to bolt, but to latch the 
door; after which he leisurely set about munching his slily 
acquired booty. Before putting a final stop to these proceed- 
ings, I gave several of my neighbours, who were incredulous 
upon the subject, an opportunity of witnessing them. And 
at these times his sagacity was further evinced by the fact 
that he would never commence his operations until after the 
light had been extinguished at the bedroom window." 
The instinct The sense of locality so conspicuous in the 
of the Ass. dog, the cat and the horse is also possessed in 
a remarkable degree by the ass, as the following story told 
by Captain Brown will show. "In 1816, an ass belonging 
to Captain Dundas was shipped on board the Ister, bound 
from Gibraltar to Malta. The vessel struck on a sand-bank 
off the Point de Gat, and the ass was thrown overboard into 
a sea which was so stormy that a boat that soon after left 
the ship was lost. In the course of a few days, when the 
gates of Gibraltar were opened in the morning, the guard 
was surprised by the same ass which had so recently been 
removed, presenting itself for admittance. On entering, it 
proceeded immediately to the stable which it had formerly 
occupied. The ass . had not only swum to the shore, but 
found its own way from Point de Gat to Gibraltar, a distance 
of more than two hundred miles, through a mountainous and 
intricate country intersected by streams, which it had never 



1 82 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

passed before — but which it had now crossed so expeditiously 
that it must have gone by a route leading the most directly 
to Gibraltar." 

The Trained The ass like many other animals is capable 
Ass. f being trained to perform many tricks, advan- 
tage of which seems to have been taken long before our time, 
as the following quoted by Captain Brown will show. John 
Leo, in a book printed as early as 1556, says, "when the 
Mahometan worship was over, the common people of Cairo 
resorted to the foot of the suburbs called Bed-Elloch to see 
the exhibition of stage -players and mountebanks, who teach 
camels, asses, and dogs to dance. The dancing of the ass 
is diverting enough; for after he has frisked and capered 
about, his master tells him, that the Soldan, meaning to build 
a great palace, intends to employ all the asses in carrying 
mortar, stones, and other materials ; upon which the ass falls 
down with his heels upwards, closing his eyes, and extending 
his chest, as if he were dead. This done, the master begs 
some assistance of the company, to make up the loss of the 
dead ass; and having got all he can, he gives them to know 
that truly his ass is not dead, but only being sensible of his 
master's necessity, played that trick to procure some pro- 
vender. He then commands the ass to rise, who still lies in 
the same posture, notwithstanding all the blows he can give 
him, till at last he proclaims, by virtue of an edict of the 
Soldan, all are bound to ride out next day upon the come- 
liest asses they can find, in order to see a triumphal show, 
and to entertain their asses w T ith oats and Nile water. These 
words are no sooner - pronounced, than the ass starts up, 
prances, and leaps for joy. The master then declares, that 
his ass has been pitched upon by the warden of his street, 
to carry his deformed and ugly wife; upon which the ass 
lowers his ears, and limps with one of his legs, as if he were 
lame. The master, alleging that his ass admires handsome 
women, commands him to single out the prettiest lady in 



THE MULE AND THE HINNY. 1 83 

the company ; and accordingly, he makes his choice by going 
round, and touching one of the prettiest with his head, to 
the great amusement of the company." 
The Mule and The Mule and the Hinny, are the off-spring 

the Hinny. f the ass and the horse and combine to some 
extent the qualities of both. The mule has the sure-footed- 
ness of the ass, and the size and appearance of the horse. 
His history dates back to classical and Biblical times, and 
mention is made of him both in the Iliad and in the Bible. 
In the East he is still trained to useful service, and in Eng- 
land he is used in tramways and road cars. The Spanish 
mules are trained to understand the calls of their driver who 
directs their course by shouting from the box. 

The Zebra. The Zebra resembles the horse in shape, and 
in size stands half way between the horse and the ass. 
He belongs to Central Africa, and hitherto has resisted all 
attempts to tame him for practical use. He is a beautiful 
animal, handsomely marked with black and white stripes 
all over the body, and black and white rings round the legs. 
Burchell's Zebra which belongs to the Cape of Good Hope, 
is similar, but has white legs. The Quagga of Southern Africa 
has a brown coat striped with black, a white waistcoat, and 
white stockings. Zebras have been half tamed, when kept in 
menageries, but lack the instinctive docility of the horse. 

The Tapir. The next family we have to deal with is the 
family of the Tapiridce, in which there are two genera and 
six species. The Tapir is a large and powerful animal 
standing from five to six feet in height and inhabiting the 
warmer regions of South America. It is nocturnal in its 
habits and feeds on water-melons, gourds, and other fruits 
and vegetables. It frequents the water and can remain below 
the surface for a long time. Its hide is very thick and its 
senses of sight, hearing, and smell very acute. Its most 
characteristic feature is as hort mobile probos-cis which enables 
it to seize hold of boughs and fruits when in search of food. 



184 * NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Rev. J. G. Wood says, "Its disposition is gentle, but 
when annoyed, it sometimes rushes at its antagonist, and 
defends itself vigorously with its powerful teeth. The jaguar 
frequently springs on it, but it is often dislodged by the 
activity of the Tapir, who rushes through the bushes imme- 
diately that it feels the claws of its enemy, and endeavours 
to brush him off against the thick branches." The Tapir is 
easily tamed and even domesticated, though it must be 
admitted it makes a somewhat huge pet. It is intelligent 
and in its own way shows appreciation of kindness and 
attachment to its owner. This family has sometimes been 
regarded as a link between the Elephant and the Rhinoceros, 
but in the classification here followed the Elephant forms a 
separate order; the Tapir and the Rhinoceros complete 
the sub-order of Perissodactyla or odd-toed, hoofed animals. 
The Indian Tapir is somewhat larger than his American 
cousin and is distinguished by the greyish-white colour of 
his hind quarters, which gives him the appearance of bearing 
a white horse cloth on his loins. 

The The Rhinoceros is found in both Asia and 

Bhinoceros. Africa, and is classified by Dr. Gray in four 
genera. Of these the Indian Rhinoceros, the Rhinoceros of 
Sumatra, and the Mahoohoo of South and Central Africa 
are representatives. Mr. Gordon Cumming says, " There are 
four varieties in South Africa, distinguished by the Bechuanas 
by the names of the Borele or black rhinoceros, the Keitloa 
or two-horued black rhinoceros, the Muchocho or common 
white rhinoceros and the Kobaoba or long-horned white 
rhinoceros. Both varieties of the black rhinoceros are 
extremely fierce and dangerous, and rush headlong and 
unprovoked upon any object which attracts their attention. 
Their horns are much shorter than those of the other varieties, 
seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length. They are finely 
polished with constant rubbing against trees. The skull is 
remarkably formed, its most striking feature being the 



THE RHINOCEROS. 1 85 

tremendous thick ossification in which it ends above the 
nostrils. It is on this mass that the horn is supported. 
The horns are not connected with the skull, being attached 
merely by the skin, and they may thus be separated from 
the head by a sharp knife. They are hard and perfectly 
solid throughout. The eyes of the rhinoceros are small and 
sparkling and do not readily observe the hunter, provided 
he keep to leeward of them. The skin is extremely thick, 
and only to be penetrated by bullets hardened with solder." 
" During the day the rhinoceros will be found lying asleep 
or standing indolently in some retired part of the forest, or 
under the base of the mountains, sheltered from the power 
of the sun by some friendly grove of umbrella-topped 
mimosas. In the evening they commence their nightly ramble, 
and wander over a great extent of country." "The black 
rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often 
ploughing up the ground for several yards with its horns, and 
assaulting large bushes in the most violent manner." "The 
rhinoceros is supposed by many, and by myself among the 
rest, to be the animal alluded to by Job, Chap, xxxix, verses 
10 and 11, where it is written: 'Canst thou bind the unicorn 
with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys 
after thee? Wilt thou trust him because his strength is 
great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?'" "All the four 
varieties delight to roll and wallow in mud, with which their 
rugged hides are generally encrusted. Both varieties of the 
black rhinoceros are much smaller and more active than the 
white, and are so swift that a horse with a rider on his 
back can rarely overtake them. The two varieties of the 
white rhinoceros are so similar in habits, that the description 
of one will serve for both ; the principal difference consisting 
in the length and set of the anterior horn; that of the 
muchocho averaging from two to three feet in length, and 
pointing backwards; while the horn of the Kobaoba often 
exceeds four feet in length, and inclines forward from the 



1 86 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

nose at an angle of 45 °. The posterior horn of either species 
seldom exceeds six or seven inches in length. Both these 
varieties attain an enormous size, being the animals next in 
magnitude to the elephant. They feed solely on grass, carry 
much fat, and their flesh is excellent, being preferable 
to beef." 

Rhinoceros Mr. Gordon Cumming gives several graphic 
Hunting, descriptions of his experiences with the rhinoceros, 
in his "Hunting Adventures in South Africa", from which 
work the foregoing description of the several species is taken. 
On one occasion after following a huge white rhinoceros, 
which, however, escaped him, he says, " I found myself on the 
banks of the stream beside which my waggons were out- 
spanned. Following along its margin, I presently beheld a 
bull of the borele, or black rhinoceros, standing within a 
hundred yards of me. Dismounting from my horse, I secured 
him to a tree, and then stalked within twenty yards of the 
huge beast, under cover of a large strong bush. Borele, 
hearing me advance, came on to see what it was, and suddenly 
protruded his horny nose within twenty yards of me. Knowing 
well that a front shot would not prove deadly, I sprang to 
my feet and ran behind the bush. Upon this the villain 
charged, blowing loudly, and chased me round the bush. 
Had his activity been equal to his ugliness my wanderings 
would have terminated here, but by my superiority I had 
the advantage in the turn. After standing a short time eyeing 
me through the bush ... he wheeled about, leaving me master 
of the field." This was not the only nor even the narrowest 
escape experienced by Mr. Gordon Cumming when hunting 
this enormous beast. On another occasion he says : — " Having 
proceeded about tw r o miles with large herds of game on every 
side, I observed a crusty looking old bull borele or black 
rhinoceros, cocking his ears one hundred yards in advance. 
He had not observed us; and soon after he walked slowly 
towards us, and stood broadside, eating some wait-a-bit 



THE RHINOCEROS. 1 87 

thorns within fifty yards of me. I fired from my saddle, 
and sent a bullet in behind his shoulder, upon which he 
rushed forward about one hundred yards in tremendous 
consternation, blowing like a grampus, and then stood looking 
about him. Presently he made off. I followed, but found 
it hard to come up with him. The chase led through a 
large herd of wildebeests, zebras, and springboks, which gazed 
at us in utter amazement. At length I fired my second 
barrel, but my horse was fidgety, and I missed. I continued 
riding alongside of him, expecting in my ignorance, that at 
length he would come to bay, which rhinoceroses never do; 
when suddenly he fell flat on his broadside on the ground, 
but, recovering his feet resumed his course as if nothing 
had happened. Becoming at last annoyed at the length of 
the chase, as I wished to keep my horse fresh for the elephants, 
and being indifferent whether I got the rhinoceros or not, I 
determined to bring matters to a crisis, so spurring my horse, 
I dashed ahead, and rode right in his path. Upon this the 
hideous monster instantly charged me in the most resolute 
manner, blowing loudly through his nostrils; and although 
I quickly wheeled about to my left, he followed me at such 
a furious pace for several hundred yards, with his horrid 
horny snout within a few yards of my horse's tail, that my 
little bushman, who was looking on in great alarm, thought 
his master's destruction inevitable. It was certainly a very 
near thing; my horse was extremely afraid and exerted his 
utmost energies on the occasion. The rhinoceros, however, 
wheeled about and continued his former course, and I, being 
perfectly satisfied with the interview which I had already 
enjoyed with him, had no desire to cultivate his acquaint- 
ance any further, and accordingly made for the camp." 
The Tame Some species of the rhinoceros, if not all, seem 
Rhinoceros, to be tamable. The Indian variety distinguished 
by the thick folds of heavy garment-like skin, which hang 
from his shoulders, haunches and thighs, has been trained 



1 88 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

to exercise the same quiet patience which distinguishes 
the elephant. The paroxysms of rage which Mr. Gordon 
Cumming describes the African variety as venting upon a 
harmless bush, or employing in tearing up the earth, have 
been known to seize those specimens which have been im- 
ported into England, as the following account of the rhino- 
ceros, exhibited at Exeter Change, published in the " Philoso- 
phical Transactions for 1822," will show. "This animal about 
a month after it came, endeavoured to kill the keeper, and 
nearly succeeded. It ran at him with the greatest impetuosity, 
but, fortunately, the horn passed between his thighs, and 
threw the keeper on its head; the horn came against a 
wooden partition, into which the animal forced it to such a 
depth as to be unable for a minute to withdraw it, and, 
during this interval, the man escaped. Frequently, (more 
especially in the middle of the night), fits of frenzy came 
on; and, while these lasted, nothing could control its rage, 
the rhinoceros running with great swiftness round the den, 
playing all kinds of antics, making hideous noises, knocking 
everything to pieces, disturbing the whole neighbourhood, 
and then, all at once, becoming quiet. While the fit was 
on, even the keeper durst not make his approach. The 
animal fell upon its knee to enable the horn to be borne 
upon any object. It was quick in all its motions, ate vora- 
ciously all kinds of vegetables, appearing to have no selection. 
They fed it on branches of willow. Three years' confinement 
made no alteration in its habits." The rhinoceros is said 
to live for a hundred years. 
The Hippo- The Hippopotamus introduces the second sub- 
potamus. order of the hoofed animals, the Artiodactyla, 
animals having an even number of toes. There is but 
one genus of the Hippopotamus and two species, the Hippo- 
potamus of the great rivers of Southern Africa, and the Liberian 
Hippopotamus of the West. The Hippotamus is gregarious, 
congregating in the deep shady pools and on the sandy 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 1 89 

banks of the shallow rivers of its native land. It attains to 
ten or eleven feet in length, and to five feet, or more, in 
height, being the next largest animal to the rhinoceros and 
the elephant. He is a powerful beast and has been known 
to attack and capsize boats, though when hunted he usually 
sinks to the bottom of the river where he is able to remain 
five or six minutes without rising to the surface for breath. 
The form of his head enables him to lift his eyes and his nostrils 
above the water at the same time without exposing more than 
a slight portion of his head. Thus, while taking in breath 
to sustain him while out of the reach of his enemies, he can 
watch their movements and determine his course below. His 
hide is very thick and strong and is, therefore, very useful 
for a variety of purposes, while his tusks furnish the dentist 
with the material to supply human deficiencies. 
The Haunt Mr. Gordon dimming gives the following 
of the vivid description of the haunt of the Hippopotami. 
Hippopotami, u^he next ^ay j ro( j e ^ own the river to seek 

sea-cows, taking as usual my double-barrelled rifles. We had 
proceeded about two miles when we came upon some most 
thoroughly beaten, old established hippopotamus paths, and 
presently, in a broad, long, deep, and shaded pool of the 
river, we heard the sea-cows bellowing. There I beheld 
one of the most wondrous and interesting sights that a 
sportsman can be blessed with. I at once knew that there 
must be an immense herd of them, for the voices came from 
the different parts of the pool; so creeping in through the 
bushes to obtain an inspection, a large sandy Island 
appeared at the neck of the pool, on which stood several 
large shady trees. The neck of the pool was very wide and 
shallow, with rocks and large stones ; below, it was deep and 
still. On a sandy promontory of this Island stood about 
thirty cows and calves, whilst in the pool opposite, and a 
little below them, stood about twenty more sea-cows, with 
their heads and backs above water. About fifty yards further 



I go NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

down the river again, showing out their heads, were eight or 
ten immense fellows, which I think were all bulls ; and about 
one hundred yards below these in the middle of the stream 
stood another herd of about eight or ten cows with calves 
and two huge bulls. The sea-cows lay close together like 
pigs; a favourite position was to rest their heads on their 
comrade's sterns and sides. The herds were attended by 
an immense number of the invariable rhinoceros birds, which 
on observing me did their best to spread alarm throughout 
the hippopotami. I was resolved to select, if possible, a first- 
rate old bull out of this vast herd, and I accordingly 
delayed firing for nearly two hours, continually running up 
and down behind the thick thorny cover, attentively studying 
the heads. At length I determined to go close in and select 
the best head out of the eight or ten bulls which lay below 
the cows. I accordingly left the cover, and walked slowly 
forward in full view of the whole herd to the water's edge, 
where I lay down on my belly and studied the heads of 
these bulls. The cows on seeing me splashed into the water 
and kept up a continual snorting and blowing till night set 
in. After selecting for a few minutes I fired my first shot 
at a splendid bull and sent the ball in a little behind the 
eye. He was at once incapacitated, and kept plunging and 
swimming round and round, wearing away down the pool, 
until I finished him with two more shots." 

The Pig Pigs, hogs and peccaries form the next family 

Family, with which we have to deal. The Wild Boar 
which we may take first, is famous in classic history and 
European legends, and is celebrated both by ancient and 
modern poets. He is, or was common to Europe, Asia and 
Africa, and whether in the hunt or the banquet has always 
been highly esteemed. The boar hunt is an exciting chase, 
having all the elements of danger necessary to give it zest. 
Boars have been known to kill not only dogs, but horses 
and men with their powerful tusks, turning and rending them 



THE BOAR. 191 

with great strength and ferocity. When in a wild state the 
boar is a dangerous and inconvenient neighbour, for he com- 
mits serious depredations upon the property of the peasant 
and the farmer. Bruce in his travels gives an illustration of 
this. He says : " We pitched our tent in a small plain by the 
banks of a quick clear running stream ; the spot is called 
Mai-Shum. A peasant had made a very neat little garden, 
on both sides of the rivulet, in which he had sown abundance 
. of onions and garlic, and he had a species of pumpkin which 
I thought was little inferior to a melon. This man guessed 
by our arms and our horses that we were hunters, and he 
brought us a present of the fruits of his garden, and begged 
our assistance against a number of wild boars, which carried 
havoc and desolation through all his labours, marks of which 
were, indeed, too visible everywhere. — Amongst us all we 
killed five boars, all large ones, in the space of about two 
hours ; one of which measured six feet nine inches ; and 
though he ran at an amazing speed near two miles, so as to 
be with difficulty overtaken by the horse, and was struck 
through and through with two heavy lances loaded at the 
end with iron, no person dared to come near him on foot, 
and he defended himself above half an hour, till having no 
other arms left, I shot him with a horse-pistol." The tusks 
of the wild boar are often a foot in length and his hide is 
so tough that small bullets have been found between the skin 
and the flesh of captured specimens. 

The Common Authorities differ as to whether the domestic 
Hog. pig i s derived from the wild species or not, but 
certain it is that the domestic hog under suitable circumstances, 
betrays wild instincts. Hogs have been known to hunt 
rabbits and poultry and attack lambs when temporarily free 
from restraint, and instances have been recorded in which 
the hog has attacked and killed its keeper. The hog grows to 
a great size, the measurements of one belonging to Mr. Lunton 
of Bodmain some years ajso being nine feet in length and 



192 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

seven feet five inches in girth. Its weight was eight hundred 
and fifteen pounds. These limits have, however, often been 
exceeded, a hog bred in Cheshire measuring nine feet eight 
inches including tail, and standing four feet six inches in 
height. This animal weighed 1,215 pounds when killed. 
Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Yorkshire have all fine 
breeds which supply the larders of the United Kingdom with 
prime bacon. The sucking pig has been deemed a dainty 
dish even from Roman times. The babiroussa belongs to. 
Bouru and Celebes, and is gregarious. Its habits are similar 
to those of the wild hog, which the male rivals and even 
surpasses in size. It has tusks attached to both the upper 
and the lower jaw, which bend backwards with a graceful curve. 

The Peccary. The Peccary belongs to South America where 
it is indigenous. There are two species, the Collared Peccary 
and the White-lipped Peccary. The collared peccary is a 
timid, inoffensive animal about three feet long, and distin- 
guished by white bands which traverse the shoulders and 
meet at the neck. They associate in pairs or small families 
and live in holes and hollows. The white-lipped peccary 
herds in large numbers, migrating apparently in regular order 
in companies sometimes a thousand strong. These animals 
are very fierce when attacked, and the hunter has little chance 
of escaping them unless he can find shelter in a friendly 
tree. Many stories are told of hunters who have sought 
such asylum, and who have been kept treed many hours 
by peccaries who, regardless of the mortality of their com- 
rades, have lingered round the trunk. 

The Camel and The history of the Camel carries us back 
the Dromedary, to the age of the great patriarchs, and gives 
him some claim to be regarded as a patriarch himself. He 
belongs to Egypt and Arabia, where he is indispensable to the 
desert ranger, and where no longer found in a wild state, 
he takes rank as a domestic animal. His uses are several. 
As a beast of burden he is invaluable, while the milk of the 



THE CAMEL. 1 93 

female serves as an article of food, the surplus wool of his 
body as a material for rough woven cloth and his dung as 
excellent fuel. He is said by some to be docile and affectionate 
and by others to be dull and stupid, though harbouring the 
spirit of revenge. Probably like many other animals he will 
be found to reciprocate the treatment he receives in kindness 
as well as in cruelty. Some confusion exists in the popular 
mind as to distinctions between the Camel and the Dromedary, 
the number of the humps being said to differentiate the two. 
With regard to this Mr. Palgrave in his " Travels in Central and 
Eastern Arabia", says: — "The camel and the dromedary in 
Arabia are the same identical genus and creature, excepting 
that the dromedary is a high-bred camel, and the camel 
a low-bred dromedary; exactly the distinction which exists 
between a race-horse and a hack; both are horses, but the 
one of blood and the other not. The dromedary is the race 
horse of this species, thin, elegant, (or comparatively so) fine 
haired, light of step, easy of pace, and much more enduring 
of thirst than the woolly, thick-built, heavy-footed, ungainly 
and jolting camel. But both and each of them have only 
one hump, placed immediately behind their shoulders, where 
it serves as a fixing point for the saddle or burden. For 
the two humped beast — it exists, indeed, but it is neither an 
Arab dromedary nor camel; it belongs to the Persian breed 
called by the Arabs 'Bakhtee' or Bactrian." 
The strength Lik e all animals in their native lands the camel 
Endurance snows remarkable adaptation to his environment. 
of the Camel. Water is scarce in the desert, so the ship of the 
desert, as he has been poetically called, is provided with a 
capacity for the storage of the precious fluid and is able to 
take in a several days' supply at one time. The camel is 
said to drink " fifty, sixty, or even a hundred pounds' weight " 
of water at one time, and then to go for three or four days 
without a fresh supply. Again food is scarce in the desert, 
and the herbage of a very coarse kind, but the camel is able 

13 



194 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

to do with remarkably little food, if his size and the weight 
pi his burden are taken into consideration, and he will browse 
contentedly upon such food as he finds by the wayside, 
supplemented by " a cake of barley, a few dates, or beans " 
from the hands of his master. " They are particularly fond, " 
says a writer in " Tales of Animals " , " of those vegetable 
productions, which other animals would never touch, such 
as plants which are like spears and daggers, in comparison 
with the needles of the thistle, and which often pierce the 
incautious traveller's boot." A camel can be purchased in 
Egypt for from thirty to fifty dollars, though the high bred 
dromedary will fetch a very much larger sum. The camel 
will carry from five hundred to eight hundred pounds' weight, 
but will not stir if loaded beyond his strength. He travels 
at a uniform rate of three miles an hour, but will keep on 
at that rate for ten or twelve hours. The dromedary attains 
to a speed which the Arab compares to the speed of the 
wind. 
The Camel Mr. Macfarlane says, " I have been told that 
and his the Arabs will kiss their Camels in gratitude and 
as er * affection, after a journey across the desert. I 
never saw the Turks either of Asia-Minor or Roumelia, carry 
their kindness so far as this ; but I have frequently seen them 
pat their Camels when the day's work was done, and talk to them 
on their journey, as if to cheer them. The Camels appeared 
to me quite as sensible to favour and gentle treatment as a 
good bred horse is. I have seen them curve and twist their 
long lithe necks as their driver approached, and often put 
down their tranquil heads towards his shoulder. Near 
Smyrna, and at Magnesia and Sardes, I have occasionally 
seen a Camel follow his master like a pet dog, and go down 
on his knees before him, as if inviting him to mount. I 
never saw a Turk ill use the useful, gentle, amiable quadruped. 
But I have frequently seen him give it a portion of his own 
dinner, when, in unfavourable places, it had nothing but 



THE CAMEL. 1 95 

chopped straw to eat. I have sometimes seen the drivers 
on a hot day, or in passing a dry district, spirt a little 
water in the Camel's nostrils; they pretend it refreshes them." 

Camel Riding. Camel riding is evidently an exercise which 
needs getting used to. Mrs. Bowdich says : " High saddles 
are placed on their backs; and it requires either to be used 
to them, or to be particularly careful, not to be half-killed 
at starting. The rider places himself in the saddle while 
the animals are kneeling; and when they raise their hind- 
legs, which they do first of all, they send the unprepared 
traveller forwards, and his breath is almost taken out of him 
by the blow which he receives upon his chest ; then as they 
get upon their fore-legs they throw him back, so as to 
endanger his spine. Their pace is at first very disagreeable, 
being so long and slouching." 

Captain Riley describes his experiences as follows : " They 
placed me on the largest Camel I had yet seen, which was 
nine or ten feet in height. The Camels were now all 
kneeling or lying down, and mine among the rest. I thought 
I had taken a good hold, to steady myself while he was 
rising; yet his motion was so heavy, and my strength so far 
exhausted, that I could not possibly hold on, and tumbled 
off over his tail. Turning entirely over, I came down upon 
my feet, which prevented my receiving any material injury, 
though the shock to my frame was very severe." 
A Camel's Mr. Palgrave who combats the idea of the 

Revenge, camel's docility, unless stupidity may be taken 
as its synonym, gives a painful illustration of the savagery to 
which the camel may be provoked by cruel treatment, though 
we doubt if the elephant who is proverbial for his docility 
would stand the brutality to which the camel is sometimes 
treated. " A lad of about fourteen, had conducted a large 
camel laden with wood from one village to another, half an 
hour's distance or so. As the animal loitered or turned out 
of the way, its conductor struck it repeatedly, and harder 



196 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

than it seems to have thought he had any right to do, but 
not finding the occasion favourable for taking immediate 
quits, it 'bode its time', nor was that time long in coming. 
A few days later the same lad had to re-conduct the beast, 
but unladen, to his own village. When they were about 
half way on the road, and at some distance from any 
habitation, the camel suddenly stopped, looked deliberately 
round in every direction, to assure itself that no one was in 
sight, made a step forward, seized the unlucky boy's head 
in his monstrous mouth, and lifting him up in the air, flung 
him down again upon the earth with the upper part of his 
skull completely torn off, and his brains scattered on the 
ground. Having thus satisfied his revenge, the brute quietly 
resumed his pace towards the village as though nothing 
were the matter, till some men, who had observed the whole, 
though unfortunately at too great a distance to be able to 
afford timely help, came up and killed it." 
The Terrors Terrible stories are told of the sufferings some- 
of the Desert, times experienced by camels and Arabs alike 
on desert journeys. Burckhardt gives the following narrative 
which is quoted by Captain Brown. "In the month of 
August, a small caravan prepared to set out from Berber to 
Daraou. They consisted of five merchants and about thirty 
slaves, with a proportionate number of camels. Afraid of 
the robber Naym, who at that time was in the habit of way- 
laying travellers about the wells of Nedjeym, and who had 
constant intelligence of the departure of every caravan from 
Berber, they determined to take a more easterly road, by 
the well of Owareyk. They had hired an Ababde guide, who 
conducted them in safety to that place, but who lost his way 
from thence northward, the route being little frequented. 
After five days' march in the mountains, their stock of water 
was exhausted, nor did they know where they were. They 
resolved, therefore, to direct their course towards the setting 
sun, hoping thus to reach the Nile. After experiencing two 



THE CAMEL. 1 97 

days' thirst, fifteen slaves and one of the merchants died; 
another of them, an Ababde, who had ten camels with him, 
thinking that the animals might know better than their mas- 
ters where water was to be found, desired his comrades to 
tie him fast upon the saddle of his strongest camel, that he 
might not fall down from weakness, and thus he parted from 
them, permitting his camels to take their own way; but 
neither the man nor his camels were ever heard of afterwards. 
On the eighth day after leaving Owareyk, the survivors came 
in sight of the mountains of Shigre, which they immediately 
recognized; but their strength was quite exhausted, and 
neither men nor beasts were able to move any farther. 
Lying down under a rock, they sent two of their servants, 
with the two strongest remaining camels, in search of water. 
Before these two men could reach the mountain, one of them 
dropped off his camel, deprived of speech, and able only to 
move his hands to his comrade as a sign that he desired to 
be left to his fate. The survivor then continued his route; 
but such was the effect of thirst upon him, that his eyes grew 
dim, and he lost the road, though he had often travelled 
over it before, and had been perfectly acquainted with it. 
Having wandered about for a long time, he alighted under 
the shade of a tree, and tied the camel to one of its 
branches : the beast, however, smelt the water, (as the Arabs 
express it) and, wearied as it was, broke its halter, and set 
off galloping in the direction of the spring, which, as after- 
wards appeared, was at half an hour's distance. The man, 
well understanding the camel's action, endeavoured to follow 
its footsteps, but could only move a few yards; he fell ex- 
hausted on the ground, and was about to breathe his last, 
when Providence led that way from a neighbouring encamp- 
ment, a Bisharye Bedouin, who, by throwing water upon 
the man's face, restored him to his senses. They then 
went hastily together to the water, filled the skins, and, 
returning to the caravan, had the good fortune to find the 



198 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

sufferers still alive. The Bisharye received a slave for his 
trouble." 

The Llama. The Llamas are classified as members of the 
Camel Family of which they are the second genus. The 
Vicuna [Llama vicugna) of the Peruvian Andes is one of 
these. It is a very beautiful animal, combining, as Professor 
Cunningham points out, to some extent the characteristics of 
the camel, the deer and the goat. Its neck is long and slender 
and carried with a graceful curve, and its legs are slight and 
elegant, its wool fine and silky. It is a timid animal and 
very wary of the approach of danger, seeking safety in flight, 
though t often falling a victim to the rapacity of the puma, 
or the necessities of the Patagonian Indians, who eat its flesh 
and clothe themselves in its skin. The Llama, {Llama 
peruana) and the Alpaca {Llama pacos) are other species of 
this family. The former is used by the Peruvians as a beast 
of burden, as it will carry from a hundred- weight to a hundred 
weight and a half for fifteen or twenty miles a day. Accord- 
ing to Mrs. Bowdich, at one time 300,000 of these animals 
were employed in carrying metal over the rugged mountain 
passes for the Potosi mines alone. Like the camel, it refuses 
to stir when overloaded, and continues to move at a slow 
uniform pace throughout the day. Like camels also, they are 
apt to fight among themselves, when the wool flies in an 
absurd way, and if not separated, they do each other serious 
injury. When offended with their driver they spit in his face, 
their saliva being particularly unpleasant. The Alpaca which 
is also domesticated is useful for its fleece. 

The Deer. There are two families of Deer; that of the 
Mouse deer with its mouse-shaped head, and without horns, 
and that of the deer proper of which there are more than 
fifty species. There are five species of the mouse deer, 
genus Tragulus, all of which belong to Asia. They are found 
in Java, Penang, Sumatra, Borneo, Cambodia and Siam. 
The Indian Chevrotain {Tragulus mcminna) is spotted. It 



THE DEER. 1 99 

belongs to Ceylon, though it is said to be common to the 
forests of all parts of southern India. Mrs. Bowdich says : 
" The smallest of the deer species lives in Ceylon ; a lovely 
delicate creature, with lustrous eyes and of exquisite form. 
When full grown it is only ten inches high, fourteen long, 
and weighs about five pounds. Its throat, head and neck are 
all white; its body is grey, striped with black, and spotted 
at equal distances with yellow. Although very timid it is to 
be tamed; but if angry it kicks out its little hind legs and 
slender pointed hoofs with great violence. One which was 
domesticated, was placed on a dinner table, where it ran 
about and nibbled fruit from the dishes, answered to its 
name and returned the caresses which were bestowed upon 
it." The deer proper, genus cervus, is found all over Europe, 
Asia and America, one or two species belonging to the Medi- 
terranean coasts of Africa. Of these the Red Deer, the 
Reindeer, the Moose or Elk, the Fallow Deer and the Roe 
buck are the better known species, all of which chew the 
cud, have a divided hoof, and shed their horns annually. 
The Red The Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) is still found 
Deer. m Scotland as well as in the forests of Europe 
and Asia and is commonly hunted for sport. The stag is a 
timid and apparently highly sensitive animal, but when brought 
to bay has often shown a strength and courage which has 
cost its hunters dear. It is one of the most beautiful animals 
in nature, and combines with its beauty powers of speed and 
endurance which are little short of the marvellous. Full grown 
it measures four feet six inches in height at the shoulders, 
and about five feet six inches in length. The hunting of the 
stag in England has been a royal sport for centuries, though 
owing to altered conditions it has fallen into disrepute of late 
years. The overcrowded state of the country near London, 
and the half tame character of the royal stags have rendered 
the performances of the Windsor stag hounds an exhibition 
more honoured in the breach than in the observance. It 



200 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

would be difficult indeed to find anything noble or enobling 
in the following account of a stag hunt quoted by Captain 
Brown with deprecation, from the pages of "The Sporting 
Magazine." 
A Stag "On Monday Nov. 20, 1820, the royal hounds met 
Hunt. a t Stoke Common, Bucks, where a remarkably fine 
deer was turned out. The field was extremely numerous. 
The deer, at starting, showed great sport, taking, at full 
speed, through the enclosures, making towards Slough, and 
afterwards for Datchet, where he crossed the Thames, and 
then took to the right, and again crossed the river. The 
deer proceeded up a lane at the back of Eton College, run- 
ning with great swiftness into the yard of Mr. Castles, pork 
butcher. He boldly proceeded through the house into the 
street, with a cur-dog at his heels; and crossing Windsor 
Bridge, to the bottom of Thames-street, actually ran up the 
Hundred Steps, a steep and winding ascent to the Castle. On 
his reaching the top, he made a pause, and then returned into 
Thames-street, many of the sportsmen having rode round into 
the Castle, with the object of heading him as he came up the 
steps. The stag crossed Windsor Bridge again with great 
swiftness, and passed down Eton, entered the shop of Mr. 
Levy, an orange merchant, making his way in different parts 
of the house, till he got into the kitchen, where he remained 
some time : a great crowd was collected round the house. 
On his leaving the kitchen, he passed through the back way 
into gardens. At this time, many hundreds of persons joined 
in the chase. This excellent deer, after having performed 
these extraordinary feats, and afforded a charming day's sport, 
was at last taken in attempting to leap over the high wall 
between Eton College and the Fifteen-arch Bridge." In the 
open country and in the olden time a stag hunt was, of 
course, a very different thing, though the hunting of so sen- 
sitive and so timid an animal as the stag could never be 
other than a cruel pastime. Of the speed and endurance of ' 






THE STAG. 201 

the stag a remarkable illustration will be found on page 127. 
Many years ago the Duke of Cumberland thought to make 
trial of a stag's courage by placing him in an enclosure with 
an ounce, or hunting tiger, on Newmarket Heath. The 
enclosure was made by a net-work of about fifteen feet high, 
and the contest took place in the presence of some thousands 
of spectators. On seeing the stag, the ounce crouched down 
and prepared to spring, but the stag kept such a steady 
front that the ounce, turn as he would, was out-manoeuvred 
by the stag and could not get a chance of turning his flank. 
After a long time the ounce was goaded to the attack by the 
order of the Duke, whereupon it leapt, not upon the stag 
but over the enclosure and among the people, immediately 
crossing the road and entering the wood opposite, where it 
fastened upon the haunches of a fallow deer. 

The Tame Stags have been tamed and brought largely 
Stag. under control but they are said to be uncertain 
in their temper, probably from their timidity. Many years 
ago Lord Oxford trained four red deer stags to draw a 
phaeton, and Captain Brown tells an amusing story of an 
adventure which befell him while driving his unique team in 
the neighbourhood of Newmarket. It happened that as they 
were proceeding on the road to Newmarket they heard the 
cry of a pack of hounds and immediately the Tour stags 
made off at the top of their speed, followed by the hounds 
who had sighted them or scented them from a distance. 
The animals were quite beyond control, but on reaching 
Newmarket, they ran into the yard of the Ram Inn where 
Lord Oxford had been accustomed to take them, and they 
were safely housed in a barn when the pack of hounds 
came up. Stags have also been trained to play tricks of 
various kinds. A tame stag at one time marched with a 
Newfoundland dog, with the band of the 42nd Highlanders. 

The Reindeer. The Reindeer belongs to the north of Europe 
Asia and America, where he is the chief source of comfort 



202 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and wealth of the natives. In Lapland, as the author of 
" Tales of Animals " puts it, he supplies the place of the horse, 
the cow, the sheep, and the goat. " Alive and dead, the rein- 
deer is equally subservient to their wants. When he ceases 
to exist, spoons are made of his bones, glue of his horns, 
bowstrings and thread of his tendons, clothing of his skin, 
and his flesh becomes a savoury food. During his life, his 
milk is converted into cheese, and he is employed to convey 
his owner over the snowy wastes of his native country. Such 
is the swiftness of the reindeer that two of them, yoked in 
a sledge, will travel a hundred and twelve English miles in 
a day." The reindeer will draw about 300 lbs. weight, though 
250 lbs. is a sufficient average load. His ordinary pace is 
said to be about ten miles an hour and his powers of endur- 
ance are very great. His pace for a short distance is thus 
given by Pictet, who took the measurements and tested the 
speed of three animals yoked to light sledges. "The first 
deer performed 3089 feet, 9 inches, in two minutes, being 
at the rate of nearly 19 English miles in an hour, and thus 
accomplishing 25 feet, 9 inches, in every second. The second 
did the same in three minutes ; and the third and last deer, 
in three minutes and twenty-six seconds. The ground in this 
race was nearly level. " The reindeer is gregarious in its 
wild state, and retains its social instinct when in a state of 
domestication. When travelling, the hindmost animals follow 
their leader with dogged persistency, even though the leader 
may make a circuit which the followers might avoid by taking 
a direct cut. Nor will they accept the guidance of their drivers 
in such cases and if dragged out of their course by main force 
will return to it as soon as the force is removed. In his own 
way, however, the reindeer will follow unerringly though his 
leader may be out of sight, moving along with his nose close to 
the ground and tracing the way by his scent, which is very keen. 
The reindeer is much troubled in the summer time by the 
attacks of small flies. De Broke says, " The poor animal is thus 



THE REINDEER. 203 

tormented to such a degree, that the Laplander, if he were 
to remain in the forests during the months of June, July, and 
August, would run the risk of losing the greater part of his 
herd, either by actual sickness, or from the deer fleeing of their 
own accord to mountainous situations to escape the gad-fly. 
From these causes, the Laplander is driven from the forests to 
the mountains that overhang the Norway and Lapland coasts, 
the elevated situations of which, and the cool breezes from 
the Ocean, are unfavourable to the existence of these trouble- 
some insects, which, though found on the coast, are in far 
less considerable numbers there, and do not quit the valleys; 
so that the deer, by ascending the highlands, can avoid 
them." Reindeer are extremely timid when hunted, but if 
the hunter can get sufficiently near to strike panic into a herd 
they seem to lose all sense but that of fear, and are easily 
captured in numbers. Writing of the North American Rein- 
deer, Sir John Richardson says: — "The Chippewayans, the 
Copper Indians, the Dog-ribs, and Hare Indians of the Great 
Bear Lake, would be totally unable to inhabit their barren 
grounds, were it not for the immense herds of this deer that 
exist there. Of the caribou horns they form their fish spears 
and hooks ; the hide, dressed with the fur on, is excellent 
for winter clothing, and supplies the place both of blanket 
and feather bed to the inhabitants of these arctic wilds." 
Captain Franklin gives the following description of the man- 
ner in which the Dog-rib Indians kill the reindeer. "The 
hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one hand 
the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and 
in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from 
time to time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar 
to the animal. His comrade follows, treading exactly in his 
footsteps, and holding the guns of both in a horizontal posi- 
tion, so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who 
carries the head. Both hunters have a fillet of white skin 
round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip of the 



204 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

same round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, 
raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down somewhat 
suddenly, after the manner of a deer, and always taking care 
to lift their right or left feet simultaneously. If any of the 
herd leave off feeding to gaze upon this extraordinary phe- 
nomenon, it instantly stops, and the head begins to play its 
part by licking its shoulders, and performing other necessary 
movements. In this way the hunters attain the very centre 
of the herd without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to 
single out the fattest. The hindmost man then pushes for- 
ward his comrade's gun, the head is dropped, and they both 
fire nearly at the same instant." 
The Moose The Moose or Elk is the largest of the Deer 
or Elk. kind, and often attains to and even exceeds the 
size and bulk of the largest horses. He is less graceful 
than other members of his family, having a short thick neck, 
necessary perhaps to sustain his huge antlers, which some- 
times reach five feet in length and weigh as much as sixty 
pounds. He escapes the torment of insects by taking to the 
water, in which he is an expert swimmer. Like the other 
animals of the Deer kind he sheds his horns annually. Year 
by year these huge growths increase in breadth and in the 
number of branches they bear, until there are sometimes as 
many as twenty on each horn. He is docile and easily 
tamed, and has been broken to run in harness. The Elk 
occupies much the same geographical area as the reindeer, 
though not travelling so far north. 

The Fallow The Fallow Deer {Dama vulgaris) is smaller 
Deer and the than the stag, but similar to it in colour, form, 
and habit. It is this species which is domesti- 
cated and kept in the parks of the wealthy in England. 
Fallow Deer often quarrel among themselves over rights of 
pasturage, the herd dividing into two and engaging in a pitched 
battle for the possession of the disputed land. The Roebuck 
is smaller than the Fallow Deer, his height being about two 



THE GIRAFFE. 205 

feet six inches and his length three feet. He is less sociable 
than other species of his kind, living alone with his family 
'and not in herds like the Fallow Deer. He is found in Scot- 
land and in the northern parts of Europe. 

The Giraffe. The Giraffe (Camelopardalis giraffd) belongs 
to Abyssinia, Nubia and South-Africa. It is the tallest of 
living animals, attaining to the height of eighteen feet. Its 
body has some similarity to that of the camel in form, and 
its head, which surmounts a neck seven feet long and bears 
two horns six inches long, resembles generally that of a horse. 
Its tongue, which can be extended seventeen inches, is very 
mobile and can be so tapered as to enter a small ring. It 
is used in tearing off the foliage of the trees upon which the 
animal feeds. Its neck, but for its length, is like that of the 
stag, and its legs are slender. The hide is spotted like that 
of the leopard and when young is of a light red colour, which 
becomes deeper with age, that of the female becoming a 
yellow brown and that of the male a dark brown approaching 
to black. In repose it lies on its side, resting its head on 
its hind quarters. Though only living in a wild state, the 
Giraffe is a mild and docile animal, only fighting in self- 
defence, and then making powerful use of its heels. The 
lion is its great enemy and if it succeeds in leaping upon its 
back there is not much chance for the giraffe, which usually 
runs until it drops from exhaustion. A blow from the heel 
of the Giraffe in the right place would probably kill any of 
its enemies, and even the lion has been known to pay dearly 
for coming within its reach. 

The History The Giraffe was known to the ancients, though, 
of the Giraffe. lik e the gorilla, it has been re-discovered in 
recent years. Le Vaillant saw and described the giraffe, but 
he was credited with having invented it, and it was not 
until a live specimen of it was brought to Paris that his 
credibility was established. Mrs. Bowdich, who happened to 
be in Paris at the time this animal arrived, gives an amusing 



206 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

description of its triumphal march from Bordeaux to the Capital. 
" A deputation from each large town through which she passed," 
says Mrs. Bowdich, " formed of the municipal authorities, 
met her; and one of the most learned savants went all the 
way from the Jardin des Plantes, to accompany her on 
her march. 'La giraffe,' however, did not appreciate these 
honours, and was often impatient under the etiquette imposed 
on her. On one occasion she broke loose from her cavalcade, 
keeper and all, and dashing among the horsemen, scattered 
them right and left, some on and some off their steeds. A 
dignified mayor lay in the dust, and by his side rolled the 
painstaking savant who had performed so long a journey in 
her service. The enthusiasm did not abate when she reached 
her destination. Thirteen thousand more than the usual 
weekly number passed over the Pont d'Austerlitz alone; and 
as the public curiosity did not but increase for six weeks, 
steps were obliged to be taken to prevent the multitude from 
pressing upon her. Her love for roses was very great; and 
she eagerly snatched them from those who carried or wore 
them, to their great astonishment ; for few could calculate on 
the distance which she could reach." Mr. Gordon Cumming 
describes a herd of ten giraffes which he saw moving together 
along an African valley, forming an imposing spectacle. 

Hollow- ^ e come now to a family of great importance 
Homed to the human race, the family which includes 
Kumiaants. amon g its members the Ox and the Sheep. 
These are grouped as hollow-horned ruminants, this one 
touch of nature making the whole family kin. The hollow- 
horned ruminants are divided into numerous sub-families, 
of which the Ox, the Antelope, the Sheep, and the Goat are 
the best known representatives. The horn by which the 
family is characterised, comprises a hollow horny sheath which 
covers a bony core, and which, except in one case, unlike 
the horns of the stag, which are shed annually, is permanent. 
Sir Victor Brooke divides the family of the Bovidae into 



THE BULL. 207 

thirteen sub-families. I Bovinae, II Tragelaphinae, III Oryginae, 
IV Hippotraginae, V Gazellinae, VI Antilocaprinae, VII Cer- 
vicaprinae, VIII Cephalophinae, IX Alcephalinae, X Budorcinae, 
XI Rupicaprinae, XII Nemorhedinae, XIII Caprinae. 
The Bull, Xhe sub-family Bovinae includes the Bull, the 
and ' Bison, and the Buffalo. The antiquity of the 
The Buffalo, ruminants shrouds their origin in obscurity. They 
are of frequent mention in the sacred writings as belonging 
to the earliest historic period, and as living in a state of 
domestication in all times. The Bull has a very wide geo- 
graphical area, and is found in most parts of the world. In 
England, as the Rev. j. G. Wood puts it, there are almost 
as many breeds as counties, and they are generally distin- 
guished by the length or shape of their horns. The " long- 
horned " breed belong to Lancashire, the "short-horned" 
to Durham, the " middle-horned " to Devonshire, besides 
which there is the "polled", a hornless breed. Of the Bison 
there are two species, one belonging to Poland and the Cau- 
casus, and the other to North America. The Buffalo belongs 
to the south of Europe, to India, and to North Africa, 
the Cape Buffalo inhabiting the south of "the dark conti- 
nent." 
The Bull. Few animals show as much difference of dis- 
The Ox. position in the male and female as the Bull 
and the Cow. The Bull is often excited to un- 
governable fury, is generally unsafe and often dangerous. 
These characteristics have doubtless marked him out as the 
object of sport in the Roman Amphitheatre and the Spanish 
Bull fight. The Cow, on the other hand, displays a gentle 
and docile disposition, is placid, mild, and obedient to the 
will of those who govern it. The Bull is kept mainly for the 
purposes of breeding, being too uncertain for use as a beast 
of burden or for other employment. The Ox which is the 
subdued offspring of the Bull and the Cow, is much more 
amenable to control and therefore a much more useful 



208 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

servant to man. The Cow is invaluable for the milk it sup- 
plies, upon which mankind is dependent for butter and for 
cheese. 

The Bun. The Bull is a handsome animal and of great 
strength, especially about the head and neck. Its fierceness 
has often been turned to account by the farmer, for it is an 
excellent animal to dispute a right of way, the force of its 
arguments usually bearing down all opposition. It has been 
known also to use its strength for the protection of other 
animals. " Two robbers," says the author of " Domestic Animals 
and their Treatment," "took a pig, weighing fourteen stone, out 
of its sty, and drove it along a lane leading towards Rother- 
ham. On coming to a lonely path across the fields they 
thought it would be better to kill the pig at once in this 
quiet place, where no one would be likely to hear the cries 
of the animal. One of the robbers accordingly took a knife 
out of his pocket, and commenced cutting the pig's throat. 
The poor pig struggled violently, and managed to escape 
from his hands, running squealing into the next field, with 
a fearful gash in his throat. The men ran after the pig, but 
found in the field a bull grazing, who seemed at once to 
understand the state of the case, and took upon himself the 
championship of the wounded animal. The bull ran furiously 
at the robbers, who fled for their lives, and only just managed 
to escape a toss from his horns. They lingered outside the 
fence, however, hoping that an opportunity would still offer 
of their catching the pig; but the pig wisely kept close to 
his new friend, and the men at last were under the mortify- 
ing necessity of going home without their booty. These men 
were afterwards convicted of stealing sheep and corn, when 
one of them confessed this affair of the pig, and thus ex- 
plained what had been a great mystery to the owner, namely, 
how it was that his pig came to be in a field at some dis- 
tance from the sty, with his throat partly cut, and keeping 
close company with the bull/ Mr. Byam's " Central America" 



THE BULL. 209 

affords another illustration : " A bull had gored so many cattle 
that he was lassoed, and his horns blunted at the tips to 
prevent further mischief. A few weeks after, a panther (jaguar) 
killed a cow; and from the torn condition of the bull's head 
and neck, and the trampled state of the ground, he had 
evidently done battle for the cow. He was secured, his wounds 
plastered up, his horns made sharp again, and turned out 
into the savannah. The wild dogs and vultures having been 
kept from the body of the cow during the day, the panther 
returned to his feast at night, and a furious engagement took 
place between him and the bull; for the former was found 
dead close by the cow the next morning, pierced through 
and through. The bull returned again and again to him with 
fury, and was himself again wounded; but his gashes were 
sown up, and he remained so fierce that his horns were 
obliged to be re-blunted." 

The Brahmin The Brahmin Bull of India, is a sleek, tame 
BuU - animal of a different species to the ordinary 
working ox. He is protected as sacred and allowed more 
liberty than is sometimes either convenient or pleasant, as he 
is apt to become obtrusive and his devotees fear to check 
or thwart him. Sacred as he is he does not believe in the 
eighth commandment and so helps himself without scruple to the 
wares of the fruiterer and the gardener's preserves. 

The Ox. The Ox is one of the most useful creatures of 
the animal world. It is used as a beast of burden and employed 
to draw waggons and to drag the plough in England, and in 
a variety of useful labours abroad. " Every part of the Ox 
is of value," says the Rev. J. G. Wood. "We eat his flesh, 
we wear shoes soled with his skin, our candles are made 
from his fat, our tables are joined with glue made from his 
hoofs, his hair is mixed with the mortar of our walls, his 
horns are made into combs, knife-handles, drinking- cups, etc., 
etc., his bones are used as a cheap substitute for Ivory, and 
the fragments ground and scattered over the fields as manure, 

14 



2IO NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and soup is made from his tail." The value of the Ox in 
drawing waggons abroad may be gathered from the following 
quotation from Mr. Gordon Cumming's " Hunting Adventures 
in South Africa." "They (the oxen) are expected, unguided 
by reins, to hold the rare-trodden roads, which occur through- 
out the remoter parts of the Colony, either by day or night ; 
and so well trained are these sagacious animals, that it is 
not uncommon to meet with a pair of fore-oxen which will, 
of their own accord, hold the "spoor" or track of a single 
waggon, which has perhaps crossed a plain six months pre- 
viously." 

The Cow. The Cow after supplying enormous quantities 
of milk during life is almost as valuable as the Ox when 
dead. It is from the Cow moreover that we get the lymph 
used in vaccination, which has proved such a wonderful 
safeguard against small- pox. In its quiet way the Cow some- 
times shows sagacity. Mr. Bell gives us the following illustra- 
tion: — "A cow which was feeding tranquilly in a pasture, the 
gate of which was open to the road, was much annoyed by 
a mischievous boy who amused himself by throwing stones 
at the peaceful animal, which, after bearing with his impertinence 
for some time, at length went up to him, hooked the end 
of her horn into his clothes, and lifting him from the ground, 
carried him out of the field and laid him down in the road. 
She then calmly returned to her pasture, leaving him quit 
with a severe fright and a torn garment." Cows have been 
taught to graze close to forbidden crops without yielding to 
the temptation to eat them. 
The Pride A writer in Frank Leslie's popular monthly gives 
of a Cow. an amusing instance of vanity as shown by a 
cow. This cow, he was told, claimed precedence in all cases; 
she always went ahead of the herd and claimed the best piece 
of pasture as her exclusive domain. So far did she carry 
her pretensions, that if any of the other cows entered the 
stable before her, she would refuse to follow. Anxious to 



THE BISON. 2 I I 

see this with his own eyes, he desired to be taken to her 
stable at evening. The man, instructed how to act, drove in 
some of the other cows. The white cow drew up ; not only 
did she refuse to advance, in spite of all encouraging words, 
but her whole frame swelled with anger and offended dignity. 
She kept lowing continually. At last the cows within, as 
though conscious that they had forgotten their place, began 
to come out, and as they were driven out, the proud white 
cow, with an evident air of gratified pride, strode in in silence. 
It is almost impossible to convey the impression produced 
by this exhibition of downright pride, Hidalgo pride, in what 
many would call a dumb brute. 

The Bison. The American Bison is a formidable animal 
when engaged alone, and when charging in a pack simply 
irresistible. He is about the size of an ox, one measured 
by Sir J. Richardson being eight feet six inches in length, 
without his tail, and more than six feet in height at his fore- 
quarters. He has an enormous head, surmounted by a huge 
hump on his shoulder which is covered in winter with shaggy 
mane-like hair. His hinder quarters are comparatively thin 
and small, and his colour is a dark brown approaching to black. 
Sharp piercing eyes and short powerful horns give him a fierce 
appearance and dangerous powers. He has enormous strength 
in his head and neck. The Bison is gregarious, associating 
in herds many hundreds strong. These herds have been 
greatly reduced during late years, but a herd seen by Captains 
Lewis and Clerk was numbered by them at not less than 
twenty thousand. " Such was the multitude of these animals, 
that, although the river, including an island over w r hich they 
passed, was a mile in breadth, the herd stretched as thick as 
they could swim completely from one side to the other." When 
they join in a stampede, they are said to rush over the plains 
like a cataract, with a noise resembling that of thunder. Captain 
Brown says, " Bison generally prefer the open plains, and 
do not resort to woods, except when attacked; they seldom 



212 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

attempt to defend themselves, but almost invariably take to 
flight. They are extremely fleet, and their sense of smell is 
so acute, that they discover an enemy at a great distance, 
so that it is difficult to get near them. They are frequently 
hunted by the natives, who live principally on their flesh. 
When the hunters kill an old dam, they pay no attention 
to the calf, as it is sure to remain by its dead mother. 
Instances have been known of a mother entering the town 
of Cincinnati, followed by its calves. Many of them fall 
victims to wolves and grizzly bears. Their beef is of an 
excellent quality, and of a very superior flavour." 
Hunting the Hunting the Bison is both a popular sport 
Bison. an d a lucrative commercial enterprise. The 
Indians hunt them for their skins, which they sell as "Buffalo 
robes," the Bison being commonly called a Buffalo by them, 
as well as for food. The Rev. J. G. Wood says, "The 
hunters take advantage of the gregarious instincts of this 
animal, and hunt them when they are collected together in 
their vast herds, which blacken the face of the prairie for 
miles. Sometimes they form in line, and drive the herd to 
the edge of some tall cliff, over which they fall in hundreds, 
those behind pushing on those in the van; or sometimes 
they form a large circle, driving the animals into a helpless 
and leaderless mass, into which the hunters spring, leaving 
their horses, and treading with the skill of rope-dancers on 
the backs of the bewildered bisons, whom they slaughter as 
they pass, stepping from one to the other, and driving the 
sharp blade of their spear through the spine of the animal 
whose back they have just quitted. When only wounded 
.the Bison is a most dangerous antagonist, and rushes on its 
enemy with the most determined ferocity." 

The Eastern Bison lives in the forests of Bialowesha in 
Lithuania under the protection of the Czar of Russia. The 
numbers are much smaller than those of North- America but 
they are said to be more fierce. 



THE BUFFALO. 213 

The Buffalo. The Buffalo, which must not be confused with 
the Bison, is similar in appearance to an ox, which it often 
exceeds in size. It has no hump on its shoulder as the 
Bison has, but it has much longer horns, horns that often 
measure three feet in length, and is much fiercer in their use. 
The Indian Buffalo will attack the hunter when it is brought to 
bay, and unless the hunter can despatch him as he approaches, 
there is no chance for him at close quarters. These Buffaloes, 
however, may be tamed and are often trained to and employed 
in useful service. 

Hunting the Captain Brown gives the following account of 
Indian a Buffalo hunt which took place at Keshennagar, 
Buffalo. j n Hindostan, when four gentlemen on horseback 
chased a herd of seven buffaloes and a calf for a long distance. 
" After having followed them three miles, the young one separated 
from the herd, and joined some tame cattle belonging to a 
neighbouring village. It was killed by the party, who after- 
wards continued the pursuit of the old ones, when they 
were overtaken in a high grass jungle four miles farther off. 
They were quickly driven from this place, and closely followed 
for more than six miles over a plain: at length the party 
succeeded in separating one buffalo from the herd. Here 
the encounter began. After receiving several wounds, he 
still continued his flight; he suddenly halted, and kept his 
pursuers at bay; after a short interval he again fled, and was 
pursued and wounded as before, carrying the spears sticking 
in his back and sides for several hundred yards. Lieutenant 
White, of the 15th Native Infantry, rode up very close to 
him, threw his spear, and wounded the animal in the loins. 
His horse being much exhausted, was unable to wheel round 
before the buffalo turned about and charged with such vigour, 
that both horse and rider were overthrown, and lay many yards 
distant. Fortunately, the lieutenant received no material injury ; 
and when the animal approached he had the presence of 
mind to lie flat on his back. The beast approached, but 



214 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

stood at his feet, without offering any violence. The othei 
sportsmen called repeatedly to their companion to arise and 
escape. For some time, however, he disregarded the advice, 
fearful of the consequences; at length, in compliance with 
their entreaty, he arose; the buffalo instantly rushed forward, 
but Mr. White escaped by throwing himself down; while the 
enraged beast, missing his aim, fell on the ground, his horns 
grazing Mr. White's back, as he passed over him. After this 
lucky escape, he seized the favourable opportunity, and 
regained his horse. The buffalo then took refuge in a tank ; 
and when his former opponent joined his companions, who 
were standing upon the bank, the animal issued forth, and 
selecting Lieutenant White for the object of its vengeance, 
pursued him to a considerable distance. The animal was 
now rendered quite furious, and attacked everything within 
his reach, such as cows and dogs. Unfortunately, an old 
woman returning from market passed, and became the vic- 
tim of his rage; she was taken up without any appearance 
of life, having her arms broken, and many wounds. The 
cavalry being, from fatigue, hors de combat, could not renew 
the attack; and the buffaloes, whose system was retreat, having 
gained a victory, now continued their course without mol- 
estation. " 
The Cape The Cape Buffalo is the fiercest of the Bull 
Buffalo. family. He will charge a lion or a tiger and 
often come off victor in the strife. According to Mr. Pringle 
he is considerably larger than the domestic ox ; the bony 
pad on his forehead making a complete helmet, and it is im- 
possible to pierce him with bullets which have not been 
hardened by tin. He is said to be fierce, treacherous, and 
savage ; and even when not provoked, to attack any man who 
strays near his haunts, skulking in the jungle when he sees 
him approach, and then suddenly rushing out upon him. 
Having tossed his enemy to his heart's content or thrown him 
down, he will trample and gore him, tearing off his skin with 



THE CAPE BUFFALO. 215 

his tongue, until he is shockingly mutilated. He is one of 
the few animals which seem to cherish the spirit of revenge. 
Hunting the Mr. Pringle gives the following description of 
Cape Buffalo. a Cape Buffalo hunt. " A party of boers had 
gone out to hunt a herd of buffaloes which were grazing on 
a piece of marshy ground. As they could not get within shot 
of the game without crossing part of the marsh, which was 
not safe for the horses, they agreed to leave them in charge 
of the Hottentots, and advance on foot, thinking that if any 
of the buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy to 
escape by retreating across the quagmire, which, though 
passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy 
quadruped. They advanced accordingly, and, under a covert 
of the bushes, approached the game with such advantage that 
the first volley brought down three of the fattest of the herd, 
and so severely wounded the great bull leader that he dropped 
on his knees, bellowing furiously. Thinking him mortally 
wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, 
and began reloading his musket as he advanced to give him 
a finishing shot. But no sooner did the infuriated animal 
see his foe in front of him, than he sprang up and rushed 
headlong upon him. The man, throwing down his heavy 
gun, fled towards the quagmire; but the beast was so close 
upon him that he despaired of escaping in that direction, 
and turning suddenly round a clump of copsewood, began 
to climb an old mimosa tree which stood at one side of it. 
The raging beast, however, was too quick for him. Bound- 
ing forward with a roar which my informant described as 
being one of the most frightful sounds he ever heard, he 
caught the unfortunate man with his terrible horns just as 
he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him into the 
air with such force that the body fell, dreadfully mangled, 
into a cleft of the tree. The buffalo ran round the tree once 
or twice, apparently looking for the man, until, weakened 
with loss of blood, he again sank on his knees. The rest 



2 lb NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

of the party, recovering from their confusion, then came up 
and despatched him, though too late to save their comrade, 
whose body was hanging in the tree quite dead." 

The Zebu. The Zebu is found in India, China, Arabia, 
Persia and Africa. It is of about the same size as a cow, 
but is distinguished by the possession of a hump upon its 
shoulders, giving it some resemblance to the Bison. It is used 
both for riding and driving in India, where it admirably serves 
the purposes of a horse, travelling at the rate of six miles an 
hour for many hours at a stretch and leaping obstacles with 
the facility of a practised hunter. It is also used for plough- 
ing land and threshing corn. 

The Yak. The Yak belongs to Western Thibet. It is of 
singular appearance, having the head of a bull and the hump 
of a Bison, and being covered with long hair reaching almost 
to the ground. In a wild state it is savage and dangerous, 
but it is brought under cultivation by the Tartars, who use 
it as a beast of burden and make ropes and garments from 
its hair. The female yields rich milk from which excellent 
butter is made ; butter which is stored in bladders from which 
the air is excluded. It is then carried to market by the faithful 
animal which has produced it. 

The Antelopes. The Antelopes are numerous in kind and 
various in form, too numerous and various to be separately 
described. The Eland, the largest and heaviest of the 
species, belongs to South Africa ; the Bosch-bok, to South and 
Central Africa, the Harnessed Antelope to West Africa; and 
the Nylghau to India. The Leucoryx and the Addax are 
found in North Africa, the Equine Antelopes in tropical Africa 
and the Cape. The Pallah herds in South Africa. The 
Prong-horned Antelope belongs to North America, inhabiting the 
Rocky Mountains and the districts both north and south. The 
Bay Antelope is found on the Gold Coast, the Four-horned 
Antelope in India. The Gnu or Wildebeest belongs to South 
Africa and the Chamois and the Izard to the Pyrenees. 



THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT. 217 

The Gazelle. The Gazelle, of which there are numerous species, 
belongs to Syria, Egypt and Algeria. It is a beautiful animal, 
resembling a roebuck, but more delicately and finely limbed, 
with hair equally short, but finer and more glossy. It has a 
small tuft of hair on each of its fore limbs. Of all animals 
in the world, gazelles are said to have the most beautiful 
eyes — extremely brilliant, and yet meek and expressive. Their 
swiftness is equal to that of the roe; they do not, however, 
bound forward like the roe, but run along in an even unin- 
terrupted course. Most of them are brown upon the back, 
white under the belly with a black stripe separating these 
colours. Their horns are annulated or ringed round. 

The Sheep The sheep, so useful to man, furnishing him 
and the Goat. w ith both food and clothing, is one of the most 
defenceless and inoffensive of all animals. The goat is more 
hardy, more playful, lively, and vagrant than the sheep. It 
delights in climbing precipices, for which nature has fitted 
it, by giving it hoofs hollow underneath, with sharp edges, 
so that it walks securely on narrow ridges. Both animals have 
been known from the earliest times, and are frequently men- 
tioned in the Sacred Writings. Of the different kinds of sheep, 
the common sheep, the long-tailed sheep and the Wallachian 
sheep are typical varieties. The common sheep provides us 
with our chief supplies of wool. The wool of the Spanish 
sheep (the merino) is finer in quality, but much less in quan- 
tity. The long-tailed sheep belongs to Syria and Egypt, and 
the Wallachian sheep to Crete, Wallachia, Hungary, and 
Western Asia. This last has long horns, and its wool is 
mixed with hair. The musk sheep of Arctic America resembles 
the yak somewhat in appearance, though minus the hump and 
with horns more resembling those of the buffalo. It is some- 
times called the musk ox. The goat is not much used in 
England, but it is practically the cow of Syria and Switzerland. 
The Cashmir goat produces the fine wool so much valued for 
shawl material ; the kid, the materials so largely used by the 



2l8 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

glove makers. The ibex belongs to the Carpathians, the 
Pyrenees, and the Savoy Alps, though it is now but rarely 
found in places where it was once abundant. 

The Intellig- Mn W - H * G - Km g st ° n tells an interesting 
ence of the story of a ewe, bred in the neighbourhood of 
Sheep. Edinburgh who was driven into Perthshire, a 
distance of upwards of a hundred miles, to a place where 
she became the mother of a lamb. Not liking her new 
quarters, she evidently determined to revisit the old, and set 
off with that purpose, taking her lamb with her. Arrived at 
Stirling she found the place alive with the excitement of an 
annual fair. Not deeming it prudent to increase the excite- 
ment she rested on the north side of the town throughout 
the day, where she was noticed by many people, but molested 
by none. Early the following morning she crossed the town 
and proceeded on her journey. Arrived at the toll bar of 
St. Ninians, she was stopped by the toll keeper who supposed 
her to be a stray sheep. Unable to get through the gate, 
she turned back, made a circuitous detour and reached her 
old home after a journey of nine days. Her former owner 
rewarded her by repurchasing her and allowing her to remain 
on his farm until her death, which occurred at the mature age 
of seventeen years. The sense of locality noticed in the cat, 
the dog, the horse, and other animals is here seen to be 
characteristic of the sheep. Mr. Kingston tells another story 
of a ewe who, unable to extricate a lamb which had become 
entangled in a hedge, made her way through several hedges 
into a neighbouring field and fetched a ram to its assistance, 
thus effecting its liberation. Sheep have also been known to 
seek and secure the assistance of cattle when in difficulty. 
Sheep and Haydn the composer tells a pretty story of the 
Music. power of music over the mountain sheep in the 
neighbourhood of Lago Maggiore in Lombardy. "Having 
reached the middle of the ascent by daybreak," he says, "we 
stopped to contemplate the Borromean Isles, which were 



THE ELEPHANT. 219 

displayed under our feet, when we were surrounded by a 
flock of sheep, which were leaving their fold to go to pasture. 
One of our party, who was no bad performer on the flute, 
and who always carried the instrument with him, took it out 
of his pocket. 'I am going,' said he, 'to turn Corydon ; 
let us see whether Virgil's sheep will recognise their pastor.' 
He began to play. The sheep and goats, which were follow- 
ing one another towards the mountain with their heads 
hanging down, raised them at the first sound of the flute, 
and all, with a general and hasty movement, turned to the 
side from whence the agreeable noise proceeded. They grad- 
ually flocked round the musician, and listened with motionless 
attention. He ceased playing, and the sheep did not stir. 
The shepherd with his staff now obliged them to move on ; 
but no sooner did the fluter begin again than his innocent 
auditors again returned to him. The shepherd, out of patience, 
pelted them with clods of earth ; but not one of them would 
move. The fluter played with additional skill ; the shepherd 
fell into a passion, whistled, scolded, and pelted the poor 
creatures with stones. Such as were hit by them began to 
march, but the others still refused to stir. At last the shep- 
herd was forced to entreat our Orpheus to stop his magic 
sounds; the sheep then moved off, but continued to stop at 
a distance as often as our friend resumed the agreeable 
instrument. As music was our continual employment, we 
were delighted with our adventure ; we reasoned upon it the 
whole day, and concluded that physical pleasure is the basis 
of all interest in music." 

ORDER VIII. 0^ tne elephant there is now but one genus 
The Elephant, and two species ; respectively the Indian and 
the African varieties. At least fourteen species are known to 
be extinct. 

The elephant is the largest of the quadrupeds; his height 
is from eight to fourteen feet; his length is ten to fifteen 
feet. His form resembles that of a hog; his eyes are small 



2 20 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and lively ; his ears are broad, long, and pendulous. He has 
two large tusks, and a trunk or proboscis at the extremity 
of the nose, which he uses to take his food with, and, in 
case of necessity, for attack or defence. His legs are thick 
and long, and his feet are divided into five rounded toes. 
His colour is a dark ash brown. There are elephants, 
however, of a white or cream colour. The African is dis- 
tinguished from the Indian variety by the size of its ears, 
which in the African species are very large. Dr. Livingstone 
gave the measurement of the ears of a female he killed, as 
four feet five inches in depth and four feet in horizontal 
breadth, and said he had seen a native creep under one so 
as to be completely covered from the rain. The ear of the 
Indian variety is not more than a third of this size. Gen- 
erally the elephants of Africa and especially those of the 
south are larger than those of India. The most striking 
characteristic of the elephant is his trunk. "In this," says the 
Rev. J. G. Wood, "there are about forty thousand muscles, 
enabling the elephant to shorten, lengthen, coil up, or move 
in any direction this most extraordinary organ. The trunk is 
pierced throughout its length by two canals, through which 
liquids can be drawn by suction. If the elephant wishes 
to drink, after drawing the liquid into its trunk, it inserts 
the end of its proboscis into its mouth, and discharges the 
contents down its throat; but if it merely wishes to wash 
itself or play, it blows the contained liquid from the trunk 
with great violence. Through the trunk the curious trumpet- 
like voice of the elephant is produced. At the extremity is 
a finger-like appendage, with which it can pick up small ob- 
jects. " The elephant is thirty years old before he attains 
maturity. He lives on foliage, herbs, and fruits, having a spe- 
cial taste for those which are sweet. 
The Wild The elephant is naturally a quiet and inoffensive 
Elephant, animal, and being gifted with an unusually keen 
scent and sense of hearing, will usually decamp on the approach 



THE WILD ELEPHANT. 22 1 

of danger. If wounded, however, he will sometimes turn upon 
his aggressor with terrible vengeance. Mr. Burchell, the South 
African traveller, gives a painful illustration of this. He says: — 
" Carl Krieger was a fearless hunter, and being an excellent 
marksman, often ventured into the most dangerous situations. 
One day having, with his party, pursued an elephant which 
he had wounded, the irritated animal suddenly turned round, 
and singling out from the rest the person by whom he had 
been injured, seized him with his trunk, and lifting his wretched 
victim high in the air, dashed him with dreadful force 
to the ground. His companions, struck with horror, fled 
precipitately from the fatal scene, unable to look back upon 
the rest of the dreadful tragedy; but on the following day 
they repaired to the spot, where they collected the few bones 
that could be found, and buried them. The enraged animal 
had not only literally trampled Krieger's body to pieces, but 
did not feel its vengeance satisfied till it had pounded the 
very flesh and bones into the dust, so that nothing of the 
unfortunate man remained excepting a few of the latter, 
which made most resistance from their size. " Another ele- 
phant seized a soldier of the Royal African Corps, threw him 
down, brought his four feet together and stamped upon him 
until he was dead; then seizing the body with his trunk, 
threw it into the jungle. 

Elephant Major Skinner in a communication made to 
Herds. gj r e. Tennant gives the following graphic descrip- 
tion of the actions of a herd of elephants he watched on one 
occasion in the north of Ceylon. Knowing that from the 
scarcety of water at that time and place a large herd of 
elephants which he knew to be in the neighbourhood must 
visit a certain pool during the night he made his preparations 
accordingly. He says: — "Having ordered the fires of my 
camp to be extinguished at an early hour, and all my fol- 
lowers to retire to rest, I took up my post of observation on 
an overhanging bough ; but I had to remain for upwards of 



222 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE, 

two hours before anything was to be seen or heard of the 
elephants, although I knew they were within 500 yards of 
me. At length, about the distance of 300 yards from the 
water, an unusually large elephant issued from the dense cover, 
and advanced cautiously across the open ground to within 
100 yards of the tank, where he stood perfectly motionless. 
So quiet had the elephants become (although they had been 
roaring and breaking the jungle throughout the day and 
evening) that not a movement was now to be heard. The 
huge vidette remained in his position, still as a rock, for a 
few minutes, and then made three successive stealthy advances 
of several yards (halting for some minutes between each, with 
ears bent forward to catch the slightest sound), and in this 
way he moved slowly up to the water's edge. Still he did 
not venture to quench his thirst; for though his forefeet were 
partially in the tank, and his vast body was reflected clear 
in the water, he remained for some minutes listening in per- 
fect stillness. Not a motion could be perceived in himself 
or his shadow. He returned cautiously and slowly to the 
position he had at first taken up on emerging from the forest. 
Here in a little while he was joined by five others, with which 
he again proceeded as cautiously but less slowly than before, 
to within a few yards of the tank, and then posted his patrols. 
He then re-entered the forest and collected around him the 
whole herd, which must have amounted to between eighty 
and a hundred individuals, led them across the open ground 
with the most extraordinary composure and quietness till he 
joined the advance guard, when he left them for a moment 
and repeated his former reconnaissance at the edge of the 
tank. After which and having apparently satisfied himself 
that all was safe, he returned and obviously gave the order 
to advance, for in a moment the whole herd rushed into the 
water with a degree of unreserved confidence, so opposite to 
the caution and timidity which had marked their previous 
movements, that nothing will ever persuade me that there was 



Till; TAME ELEPHANT. 223 

not rational and preconcerted co-operation throughout the 
whole part}', and a degree of responsible authority exercised 
by the patriarch leader. 

u When the poor animals had gained possession of the tank 
(the leader being the last to enter), they seemed to abandon 
themselves to enjoyment without restraint or apprehension 
of danger. Such a mass of animal life I had never before 
seen huddled together in so narrow a space. It seemed to 
me as if they would have nearly drunk the tank dry. I 
watched them with great interest until they had satisfied 
themselves as well in bathing as in drinking, when I tried 
how small a noise would apprise them of the proximity of 
unwelcome neighbours. I had but to break a little twig, and 
the solid mass instantly took flight like a herd of frightened 
deer, each of the smaller calves being apparently shouldered 
and carried along between two of the older ones. In drink- 
ing, the elephant, like the camel, although preferring water 
pure, shows no decided aversion to it when discoloured with 
mud ; and the eagerness with which he precipitates himself 
into the tanks and streams attests his exquisite enjoyment of 
the fresh coolness, which to him is the chief attraction. In 
crossing deep rivers, although his rotundity and buoyancy 
enable him to swim with a less immersion than other quad- 
rupeds, he generally prefers to sink till no part of his huge 
body is visible except the lip of his trunk through which he 
breathes, moving beneath the surface, and only now and 
then raising his head to look that he is keeping the proper 
direction." 

Elephant The affection shown by elephants for each 

Friendships. ther has often had pathetic illustration. Two 
elephants, male and female, which had been brought separately 
to Paris, were placed in adjoining apartments divided by a 
portcullis. The male soon discovered that this was fastened 
by a bolt well within his reach, and hastily withdrawing it rushed 
into the other apartment. The meeting is described as in- 



224 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

describable. Their cries of joy, says Mrs. Bowdich, shook 
the whole building, and they blew air from their trunks 
resembling the blasts from smiths' bellows. The female moved 
her ears with great rapidity, and entwined her trunk round 
the body of the male. The male encircled her with his 
trunk and shed tears. 

The ^ e sa £ acr ty of the elephant has been said 

Elephant's sometimes to equal that of the dog. A striking 
Sagacity, illustration of it is related in Pettit's work on the 
Tinnevelly Missions. "While the large chapel at Nagercoil 
was building the missionaries obtained the loan of a trained 
elephant for drawing the larger timber used in its erection. 
The late Mrs. Mault kindly saw the animal regularly fed, 
lest the food should be stolen by the attendant. One day 
the allowance of rice seemed very deficient in quantity, and 
the good lady expostulated on the subject with the keeper. 
Raising his hands to heaven, the man loudly, and with great 
apparent earnestness and sincerity, repudiated the idea of 
his having taken any of the rice. 'Do you think, madam, 
that I would rob my child? No, never! no more than I 
would deprive my own children of their daily food. ' While 
he was speaking and gesticulating, the intelligent creature, 
slyly extending his trunk, unfastened the man's waist-cloth, 
spilling the missing rice, which had been concealed in a corner 
of the cloth, and exposing the dishonesty of the attendant." 
A Some years ago there was an elephant who was 

Centenarian known to be a hundred years old, named Soup- 
Elephant, ramany, or Old Soup as he was called, who 
lived upon the banks of the Ganges near the city of Cawn- 
pore. On one occasion Old Soup was engaged with a num- 
ber of other elephants and a party of soldiers, under the 
direction of Major Daly, in loading a ship with bags of rice. 
While the work was proceeding one of the elephants began 
to throw the bags into the river, and it was found that the 
animal had gone mad. Having killed his keeper the elephant 



THE TAME ELEPHANT. 225 

started in pursuit of the major's children who with their 
nurses had been watching the elephants at work. Old Soup 
seemed to realize the situation at once. He dashed in be- 
tween the mad elephant and the children and engaged the 
infuriated beast in mortal combat. The fight lasted for an 
hour and a half and when the mad elephant lay dying on 
the ground it was found that Old Soup had many wounds 
to remind him of the fray, his ears were badly torn, his 
head was bruised, and one of his tusks was broken off short. 
An Elephant Elephants are most affectionate animals and 

Nurse. can De trusted even to take care of children. 

Old Soup whose gallant fight recorded above gained him 
great fame, became the daily guardian of Major Daly's 
children, whom he had so heroically rescued. He would 
accompany them down to the riverside when they went 
fishing, and could himself hold a rod and line, which the 
children baited for him, watching the float and landing the 
fish as skilfully as an accomplished angler. 

The As we have seen in the case of a dog and 

Elephant's that of a monkey, animals sometimes rise to 
InteUigence. tne intelligence of willingly submitting to pain- 
ful surgical treatment in view of cure. Mr. Kingston tells 
of an elephant, which had been severely wounded, and which 
used to go alone to the hospital and extend itself so that 
the surgeon could easily reach the injured part. Mr. Kingston 
says: "Though the pain the animal suffered, was so severe 
that he often uttered the most plaintive groans, he never 
interrupted the operation, but exhibited every token of sub- 
mission to the surgeon till his cure was effected. " Another 
instance given by Mr. Kingston is even more remarkable if 
only for its analogy to human conduct. A young elephant 
had a severe wound in its head, which it had gained on 
the battle-field. " Nothing could induce it to allow the 
injury to be attended to. At length by certain signs and 
words, the keeper explained to the mother what was wanted. 

15 



2 26 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The sagacious animal immediately seized the young one with 
her trunk, and though it groaned with agony, held it to the 
ground, while the surgeon was thus enabled to dress the 
wound. Day after day she continued to act in the same 
way till the wound was perfectly healed." There is surely 
no stronger proof of intelligence than that afforded when 
present suffering is willingly endured for the sake of future 
good. 
ORDER IX. The Coney is a small animal, but it is an 
The Coney, animal of distinction. It has been classed with 
the Rodents and with the Pachyderms but its characteristics 
are so unique that it is thought better to give it a separate 
order, and this is placed between the Elephants and the 
Rodents. The coney resembles the rabbit in size and general 
form, perhaps more than any other animal. There are a 
number of species belonging to one genus, the genus Hyrax : 
In Psalm civ, 18, the writer says the rocks are a refuge for 
the conies, and Agur puts the coney with three other animals 
which are both little and wise. " The conies are but a feeble 
folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks (Proverbs xxx, 
26). This description applies to the Syrian Hyrax of our day 
as truly as it did to that of the Psalmists time. The coney 
is found all over Africa. According to Dr. Kirk it lives 
in colonies at Mozambique, where it is often trapped and 
eaten. 

The Rodents are more numerous and various 
UKJJJlK A. 

The Rodents- ^ an an ^ otner class of mammals : There are 
Animals said to be 800 or more varieties. These are 
that Gnaw, divided into two sub-orders : I, The Simplici- 
dentati and, II, the Duplicidentati. Those of the first sub- 
order have two incisor teeth in the upper jaw ; those of the 
second have four. The Simplicidentati include mice, rats, 
jerboas, beavers, squirrels, chinchillas, porcupines, guinea 
pigs, &c. ; the Duplicidentati includes the numerous varieties of 
hares and rabbits. 



RATS AND MICE. 227 

Rats and There are more than 300 varieties of rats and 
Mice, mice, and they are found almost everywhere. 
The rat is an irrepressible stowaway, and following toothsome 
cargoes on board ship has made his way nearly all over the 
world. This may be said, in a less degree, of the mouse. 
The better known varieties of rats are the Brown Rat, the 
Black Rat, the Water Rat, the Beaver Rat, the Musk Rat, 
the Lemming, the Pouched Rat, &c, &c. The principal 
varieties of the mouse are, the House Mouse, the Fieldmouse, 
the Harvest Mouse, the African Mouse and the Dormouse. 
The Rat The brown rat is the species common in 
Family. England, and best known throughout the world. 
It is said to have travelled from Persia to England less than 
two hundred years ago and to have spread from thence to 
other countries visited by English ships. It measures about 
nine inches, and is of a light brown colour. It multiplies 
very fast and once colonised is very difficult of extermination. 
It is larger and stronger than the black rat which it found 
in England when it came and which it has almost entirely 
destroyed and replaced. The brown rat is often mistaken 
for the water rat as it will take to the water on occasion 
and is often found in ditches and watery places. The water 
rat is common to central and northern Europe and is well 
known in England and Scotland. It differs little from the 
brown rat in appearance, and inhabits the banks of rivers 
and ponds. The black rat is of a deep iron grey, or nearly 
black. It is about seven inches long and in other respects 
bears a close resemblance to the brown rat. The beaver 
rat is a native of America and measures about fourteen 
inches exclusive of tail. It resembles the beaver in form, is 
fond of the water and swims well. At the approach of winter 
it builds itself little. dome-topped houses, in which it hibernates 
in families. In the spring its flesh is good eating, but later 
it acquires a musk-like flavour which is disagreeable. It is 
easily tamed when young. The Muskovy musk rat is about 



228 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the size of the common rat; it has a long and slender 
nose; no external ears; and very small eyes; the tail is 
compressed sideways, and its hind feet are webbed; it is of 
a dusky colour; the belly is of a light ash. It is a native of 
Lapland and Russia, in the former of which countries it is 
called the Desman; it frequents the banks of rivers, and feeds 
on small fish. The Hudson's Bay lemming is covered by 
very fine soft and long hair of an ash colour. In winter it is 
white. The limbs are quite short and the fore feet being 
formed for burrowing, are very strong. The Lapland lemming 
resembles the preceding and is remarkable for its extensive 
migrations. When a severe winter is approaching, the lem- 
mings migrate southward, and move in a straightforward 
direction with such inflexible regularity, that, sooner than 
deviate from it, they will perish in attempting to pass over 
any obstacle which they may find in their way. The pouched 
rat belongs to America and is found in Florida, Georgia, and 
Missouri. It is brown in colour and lives in burrows under 
ground. The cheek pouches are external and are said to 
be used for the purpose of carrying food and also of removing 
sand loosened in the process of burrowing. 

The The hamster is a curious little rat-like animal 

Hamster. f tne thrifty kind, that lays up store in the 

summer for winter use. It lives in burrows which it connects 

with various apartments, used as storehouses for food. On 

the approach of the cold weather it closes the entrance to 

its burrow, and makes a nest of straw in which it sleeps, 

becoming torpid in extreme cold. 

Swarms of The rapidity with which rats multiply, makes 

Rats. them troublesome and unpleasant neighbours. In 

the vicinity of the horse slaughter-houses at Montfaucon, 

near Paris, some years ago, they had become so numerous 

that the proposal to remove the slaughter houses was 

opposed on the ground of the danger that would accrue to 

the inhabitants from the rats being deprived of their means 



THE RAT. 229 

of subsistence. It was said that the carcases of thirty-five 
horses, if left unprotected, would be eaten by these rats in 
one night, the bones being picked clean. On one occasion, 
the carcases of three horses were placed in a high walled 
enclosure, small holes having been made in the walls for the 
admission of the rats, and subsequently stopped up. Several 
men armed with torches and sticks, then entered the yard, 
which was so full of rats that they could strike right and 
left without aim and yet be sure of destroying them. Two 
thousand six hundred and fifty rats fell victims to this expe- 
riment in one night. At the end of a month, the experiment 
having been several times repeated, sixteen thousand and 
fifty rats had been killed. The danger accruing from the 
burrowing of such enormous quantities of rats is by no means 
slight. 

Invaded by The story of Bishop Hatto and the invasion 
Rats. of the " Mausethurm " on the Rhine by rats, is 
well known if not entirely authentic. Some idea of what it would 
be to be invaded by rats, may be gathered from Mrs. 
Bowdich's graphic account of her own painful experiences. 
"When living in Cape Coast Castle, I used to see the rats 
come in troops past my door, walking over my black boys 
as they lay there, and who only turned themselves over to 
present the other sides of their faces and bodies when the 
rats returned, and thought it a good joke. The fiercest 
encounter which I ever had with them was during one of 
those terrific storms which are more furious between the 
tropics than elsewhere. I was then, however, under the 
Equator, in a native hut, and heard an exceeding rustling 
and movement all around me. To my terror I perceived 
that these proceeded from a number of rats running up and 
down the sides of the # room in which I was to pass the night, 
and who shortly began to run over me, they being disturbed 
by the torrents of rain which were then falling. The only 
weapon I could find was a shoe, and curling myself into a 



230 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

large arm-chair taken out of a French vessel, and covered 
with blue satin damask, I sat prepared for my enemies, whom 
I dreaded much more than the lightning, which was flashing 
across the iron bars laid upon the floor. I felt that the silk 
of my place of refuge was some sort of protection against 
this; but my own arm could alone save me from my four- 
footed foes. Presently my husband came in, and saluted me 
with a shout of laughter, which, however, abated when he 
saw my antagonists. The storm lulled for a while, and the 
rats retreated. We then crept within the curtains of bamboo 
cloth which encircled a rude imitation of a fourpost bedstead, 
but I kept possession of my shoe. Weary with watching, I 
closed my eyes, but was awakened by a tremendous flash of 
lightning, immediately followed by awful thunder and a 
tumultuous rush of rats. Some of them scrambled up the 
outside of the curtains; but, arms in hand, I sat up, and 
directed by the noise, I hurled the invaders to the ground, 
till at length resistance and the passing away of the storm 
allowed me to sleep in peace." This was the brown rat so 
familiar all over the world. 
Migrations The habit of rats to migrate in numbers, ap- 
of Rats, parently well ordered, and under leadership, has 
often been noticed, and the way in which they will leave a 
burning house or a sinking ship has often been recorded. These 
companies will as a rule pass on their own way, and mind 
their own business if unmolested, but instances are recorded 
of their attacking and severely biting those who have opposed 
their progress. The Rev. Mr. Ferryman, who resided at Quorn 
in Leicestershire and who made somewhat of a study of rats, 
was walking in a meadow one evening when he observed a 
large number of rats in the act of migrating from one place 
to another. He stood perfectly still, and the whole assem- 
blage passed close to him. His astonishment, however, was 
great when he saw amongst the number an old, blind rat, 
which held one end of a piece of stick in its mouth while 



THE RAT. 231 

another rat had hold of the other end of it, and thus con- 
ducted its blind companion. 

The Some remarkable illustrations of the intelligence 

Intelligence of rats have been recorded from time to time, 
of Rats. The following which occurred recently seems to 
show both thought and reason. A Burley rat found a dead 
hen in a field, one evening, and departed to inform his 
brethren of the discovery, when a gentleman, who afterwards 
reported the incident to the Leeds Evening Post — removed 
the prize, which the speedy return of half-a-dozen rats was 
too late to secure. The first rat plainly evinced his dis- 
appointment, but his friends suspected him of hoaxing them, 
turned upon him suddenly, and in a few moments he was 
as dead as the chicken which had disappeared, and was left 
lying on almost the same spot which it had occupied. Captain 
Brown tells the following story of the ingenuity of the rat in 
self-preservation. " During the great flood of September, the 4th, 
1829, when the river Tyne was at its height, a number of 
people were assembled on its margin. A swan at last appeared, 
having a black spot on its plumage, which the spectators were 
surprised to find, on a nearer approach, was a live rat. It 
is probable it had been borne from its domicile on some hay 
rick, and, observing the swan, had made for it as an ark of 
safety. When the swan reached the land, the rat leapt from 
its back, and scampered away. 

Saved by a Perhaps no better example of the intelligence 
Rat - of the rat could be given than that afforded by 
the incident quoted by Jesse from Mr. Ferryman. Mr. Ferry- 
man records that he had an old friend, a clergyman, of 
retired and studious habits. When sitting in his room one 
day, he saw an English rat come out of a hole at the bottom 
of the wainscot ; and threw it a piece of bread. In process 
of time, he so familiarised the animal, that it became per- 
fectly tame, ran about him, was his constant companion, and 
appeared much attached to him. He was in the habit of 



232 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

reading in bed at night ; and was on one occasion awoke 
by feeling a sharp bite on his cheek, when he discovered 
the curtains of his bed to be on fire. He made his escape, 
but his house was burnt down, and he saw no more of his 
rat. He was, however, convinced, and remained so for the 
rest of his life, that his old companion had saved him from 
being burnt to death, by biting his cheek ; and thus making 
him aware of his danger. 

The Mouse. The mouse is a much more popular animal 
than the rat, though taking its size and numbers into account 
it is scarcely less destructive. No one weeps when the rat 
suffers capital punishment, but many a tear has been shed 
over a "dear little mouse". The house mouse is too well 
known to need description. Like rats, mice appear to act in 
companies, either under leadership or by common consent. 
Mrs. Bowdich describes a number of mice which she observed 
during an illness frequently emerge from her bed-room closet 
and gravely form themselves into a circle and apparently 
hold a council. That they frequently combine to effect 
purposes which they are unable to accomplish singly is well 
known. Mrs. Bowdich describes an attempt made by a 
combined force of mice to get possession of the dainties 
provided for her as she approached convalescence. These 
were placed under tin covers upon a chest of drawers, and 
the mice were evidently of opinion that if they could only 
climb to the top of these covers they would find them open 
like a basin, and so effect an entry. Unable to gain a footing 
on the smooth metal sides, " they mounted upon each other's 
shoulders and so accomplished the feat", though like arctic 
explorers they failed to find an open sea and were compelled 
to return with disappointment. An organised attempt to 
remove a cover from the bottom, when, on one occasion, it 
had not been firmly set down, resulted in an accident similar 
to those incident to human engineering, for the cover slipped 
and many tiny hands were severely pinched. After this 



THE MOUSE. 233 

they abandoned their attempts though a single mouse would 
occasionally reconnoitre the scene, apparently unsatisfied with 
the defeat. Mice, like many other animals, are said to be 
much affected by music. 

The The harvest mouse is a most interesting little 

Harvest creature; whose habits are thus described by 
White of Selborne : — " They build their nest amidst 
the straws of the corn above the ground, and sometimes in 
thistles. They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little 
round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat. One of 
these I procured this autumn, most artificially plaited, and 
composed of the blades of wheat, perfectly round, and about 
the size of a cricket ball, with the aperture so ingeniously 
closed that there is no discovering to what part it belonged. 
It was so compact and well filled that it would roll across 
the table without being discomposed, though it contained 
eis:ht little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest 
was perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter 
respectively so as to administer a teat to each? Perhaps 
she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them 
again when the business is over; but she could not possibly 
be contained, herself, in the ball with her young, which more- 
over would be daily increasing in bulk. This procreant 
cradle — an elegant instance of the efforts of instinct —was found 
in a wheat field, suspended in the head of a thistle." 
The Field There are two kinds of field mice, the long- 
Mouse, tailed and the short-tailed varieties. The long- 
tailed field mouse is the mouse immortalised by Burns, and 
is found throughout Europe. The short-tailed variety occupies 
much the same geographical area, though it probably extends 
further. The latter are very destructive, and have sometimes 
increased to such an extent, that organised efforts have had 
to be made to exterminate it. 

The The common dormouse, and the greater dor- 

Dormouse, mouse are the principal varieties of this interesting 



234 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

little animal. They resemble the squirrel in appearance as 
well as in some of their habits. They live in trees, where 
they construct nests, on nuts, acorns, fruits, insects, birds and 
eggs, and squirrel-like rest upon their hindquarters when 
eating, holding their food between their forepaws. They 
lay up store for the winter and become torpid in the cold 
weather, rolling themselves into a ball, in which condition 
they may be handled without disturbance or injury. The 
common dormouse is found all over Europe, the greater 
dormouse occupying a still more extended area. 

The Jerboa. The Jerboa is a curious little animal with the 
body of a mouse and hind legs which resemble those of the 
kangaroo in appearance. There are several varieties, one 
belonging to Southern Russia, one to the deserts of Egypt, 
Nubia, Arabia, Barbary and Tartary, and one to North 
America. They live in burrows which they construct with 
great care and industry. They are naturally timid and make 
for their holes on the slightest disturbance, leaping kangaroo 
fashion sometimes as high as five feet, and so swiftly as to 
be very difficult of capture. They have very long tails. 

The Beaver. There are two species of the beaver, the 
European beaver, and the American beaver. The former is 
most numerous in Siberia, Tartary, and the Caucasus but is 
also occasionally found in Central Europe. The American 
beaver is found throughout North America where it is eagerly 
hunted for the sake of its fur. 

The European The following anonymous paragraph cut from 
Beaver. a newspaper, but likely enough quoted from some 
standard Natural History, perhaps that of Messrs. Cassell 
and Co., throws some light upon the present condition of the 
European beaver. 

" There are still some naturalists who assert that the beaver 
has ceased to exist in France. This, however, is a mistake; 
an animal of that species was caught a short time ago in the 
Herault, and is now being exhibited at Montpelier. Beavers 



THE BEAVER. 235 

do not live in Europe in large companies or herds as they 
do in America, but only in solitude, and in this state they 
haunt secondary rivers, such as the Gard and the Gardon. 
There are a few on the banks and islands of the Rhone, 
but as these creatures are averse to noise, the splashing of 
the steamers plying to and fro has driven most of them away. 
They give a decided preference to such streams as are over- 
shadowed by the willow, of the bark of which they are ex- 
ceedingly fond. The beaver is also to be found as far north 
as the Saone, in those valleys where there is peat-ground. 
It lives in Spain, in Italy, and in Greece, but always solitary 
and fugitive. This curious animal is not only called Castor 
Americanus, but also Castor Gallicus, and not without reason, 
since the fossil remains of the genus are sufficient to attest 
their having been very numerous in France at some remote 
period. The little stream of the Bievre derives its name 
from its having been the habitat of these creatures ; its 
resemblance to the English name beaver need hardly be 
alluded to. In Europe this amphibious animal does not build 
those substantial and commodious dwellings which have ren- 
dered it so celebrated, because the rapacity and spirit of 
destruction so common in man have made it suspicious and 
cautious." 

The American Writing of the American Beaver Dr. Godman 
Beaver. says: — "Beavers are not particular in the site 
they select for the establishment of their dwellings, but if in 
a lake or pond, where a dam is not required, they are careful 
to build where the water is sufficiently deep. In standing 
waters, however, they have not the advantage afforded by a 
current for the transportation of their supplies of wood, which, 
when they build on a running stream, is always cut higher 
up than the place of their residence, and floated down. The 
materials used for the construction of their dams are the 
trunks and branches of small birch, mulberry, willow, and 
poplar trees. They begin to cut down their timber for build- 



2 $6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ing early in the summer, but their edifices are not commenced 
until about the middle or latter part of August, and are not 
completed until the beginning of the cold season. The strength 
of their teeth, and their perseverance in this work, may be 
fairly estimated by the size of the trees they cut down. Dr. 
Best informs us, that he has seen a mulberry tree, eight 
inches in diameter, which had been gnawed down by the 
beaver. The figure of the dam varies according to circum- 
stances. Should the current be very gentle, the dam is carried 
nearly straight across ; but when the stream is swiftly flowing, 
it is uniformly made with a considerable curve, having the 
convex part opposed to the current. Along with the trunks 
and branches of trees they intermingle mud and stones, to 
give greater security ; and when dams have been long undis- 
turbed and frequently repaired, they acquire great solidity, 
and their power of resisting the pressure of water and 
ice is greatly increased by the trees occasionally taking 
root, and eventually growing up into something of a regular 
hedge. 

"The dwellings of the beaver are formed of the same 
materials as their dams, and are very rude, though strong, and 
adapted in size to the number of their inhabitants. These 
are seldom more than four old and six or eight young ones. 
Double that number have been occasionally found in one of 
the lodges, though this is by no means a very common 
circumstance. When building their houses, they place most 
of the wood crosswise, and nearly horizontally, observing no 
other order than that of leaving a cavity in the middle. 
Branches which project inward are cut off with their teeth, 
and thrown among the rest. The houses are by no means 
built of sticks first and then plastered, but all the materials, 
sticks, mud, and stones, if the latter can be procured, are 
mixed up together, and this composition is employed from 
the foundation to the summit. The mud is obtained from the 
adjacent banks or bottom of the stream or pond near the 



THE SQUIRREL. 237 

door of the hut. Mud and stones the beaver always carries 
by holding them between his fore paws and throat. 

"Their work is all performed at night, and with much 
expedition. As soon as any part of the material is placed 
where it is intended to remain, they turn round and give it 
a smart blow with the tail. The same sort of blow is struck 
by them upon the surface of the water when they are in the 
act of diving. The outside of the hut is covered or plastered 
with mud late in the autumn, and after frost has begun to 
appear. By freezing it soon becomes almost as hard as stone, 
and effectually excludes their great enemy, the wolverine, 
during the winter." 

The Squirrel. The family of the Squirrel is a very large one 
and with it are included the marmots, the prairie dogs, and 
the anomalures, the latter of which form a sub-family. The 
common squirrel, the variety familiar in England, is a pretty 
little creature with its bright piercing eyes, and knowing look, 
and its graceful bushy tail. It is one of the most agile of 
animals, ascending and descending trees with the rapidity of 
a flash and so sensitive, that it is said that if the tree upon 
which its nests is only touched at the bottom it takes alarm 
and seeks safety on another tree. It builds its nests in the 
forks of branches of trees, — of moss, twigs, and dried leaves, 
— and leaps great distances from tree to tree. The ground 
squirrel is characterised by fine longitudinal black bands on 
its back, which form a very pretty marking. It belongs 
chiefly to North America. " It lives in villages under ground," 
says an American writer, "and plunders the farmers worse 
than the gopher. Every two months the ground squirrel 
breeds and neither State premiums nor strychnine diminishes 
its numbers. It levies an assessment of thirty per cent, 
on the profits of a wheat crop in many sections." 

The flying squirrel, also common in the United States, has 
a membranous skin which extends from the fore limbs along 
the body to the hind limbs by which its body is buoyed up 



238 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

as it descends obliquely through the air from the tree to 
the ground, the tail operating as a rudder. One species 
of the flying squirrel is found in Europe and several in 
India. 

The Squirrel Mr. Head gives a graphic description of his expe- 
at Home, riences with a squirrel in the Canadian woods. 
He says : — "I was waiting the approach of a large flock of 
wild fowl, but a little villain of a squirrel on the bough of a 
tree close to me, seemed to have determined that even now 
I should not rest in quiet, for he sputtered and chattered 
with so much vehemence, that he attracted the attention of 
my dog, whom I could scarcely control. The vagrant inattention 
of my dog was truly mortifying; he kept his eyes fixed upon 
the squirrel, now so noisy as to be quite intolerable. With 
my hand, I made a motion to threaten him, but the little 
beast actually set up his back, and defied me, becoming even 
more passionate and noisy than before, till all of a sudden, 
as if absolutely on purpose to alarm the game, down he let 
himself drop, plump at once within a couple of yards of 
Rover's nose. This was too much for any four-footed animal 
to bear, so he gave a bounce and sprang at the impertinent 
squirrel, who, in one second, was safe out of his reach, cock- 
ing his tail, and showing his teeth on the identical bough 
where he had sat before. Away flew all the wild fowl, and 
my sport was completely marred. My gun went involuntarily 
to my shoulder to shoot the squirrel. At the same moment, 
I felt I was about to commit an act of sheer revenge, on a 
little courageous animal which deserved a better fate. As if 
aware of my hesitation, he nodded his head with rage, and 
stamped his fore paws on the tree : while in his chirruping, 
there was an intonation of sound, which seemed addressed 
to an enemy for whom he had an utter contempt. What 
business, I could fancy he said, had I there, trespassing on 
his domain, and frightening his wife and little family, for 
whom he was ready to lay down his life? There he would 



THE SQUIRREL. 239 

sit in spite of me, and make my ears ring with the sound 
of his war whoop, till the spring of life should cease to bubble 
in his little heart." 

Tame Captain Brown tells of a gentleman who had a 

Squirrels, tame squirrel, who used to run up his legs and 
enter his pocket when he saw him preparing to go out. 
From this safe retreat the squirrel often poked his head and 
peeped at the people as they passed, but never ventured to 
emerge until the crowded thoroughfares were passed. When 
they reached the outskirts of the city, however, the squirrel 
leaped to the ground, ran along the road, ascended trees and 
hedges, with the quickness of lightning, and nibbled at the 
leaves and bark. If the gentleman walked on, it would 
descend, scamper after him, and again enter his pocket. On 
hearing a carriage or cart, it became much alarmed, and always 
hid itself till it had passed by. This gentleman had a dog, 
between which and the squirrel a certain enmity existed. 
Whenever the dog lay asleep, the squirrel would show its 
teasing disposition, by rapidly descending from its box, scampering 
over the dog's body, and quickly mounting to its box again. 
Another squirrel who frequented his master's pocket, on 
one occasion rendered important service. One evening, 
as was his practice, when his master's coat was taken 
off and hung behind a door, the squirrel ran up the door 
and took up his quarters in the familiar pocket, carrying with 
him a supply of tow with which to make himself comfortable 
for the night. After all the family had retired to rest, a 
burglar made his appearance, effected an entrance, and 
proceeded to examine the pockets of the coat hanging to the 
door. Putting his hand rather unceremoniously into the 
squirrel's bedroom the robber received such a sharp and 
unexpected bite that he could not forbear to cry out and 
the master of the house, aroused by the unusual sound, 
entered the room, armed with a poker, just in time to secure 
the thief as he was escaping through the window. 



240 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

m , ,.. Marmots are found in the northern parts of 

The Marmot. r 

The Bobak. both the old and the new worlds. The Bobak 

The Prairie belongs to southern Russia, the Prairie Dog to 
North America and the Woodchuck to Canada. 
The marmot is easily tamed and is familiar to many from 
being made the companion of itinerant Savoyards who exhibit 
them w T hen asking alms. The Bobak is also readily amen- 
able to kindness. All these animals live in burrows and are 
exceedingly interesting in their habits. The anomalure is a 
squirrel with a membranous skin resembling to some extent 
that of the flying squirrels and used by it for the same pur- 
pose. It belongs to Fernando Po. 

The The Chinchilla is about nine inches long, its 

ChinchiUa. tail being about five inches. Its eyes are full, 
like those of the rabbit, its hind legs are long, its fore ones 
short. It sits upon its haunches, and takes its food in its 
fore paws. It is found in Chili and Peru, and inhabits the 
open country, living in burrows, and subsisting on the roots 
of bulbous plants, which are abundant in those regions. 
Great numbers of them are killed for their skins, which furnish 
the most delicate and beautiful of furs. The Alpine Viscacha 
and the Viscacha of the Pampas, are included in the same 
family. 

The The Porcupine is found throughout Africa and 

Porcupine, southern Asia and also in the south of Europe. 
"Less completely covered with weapons of defence than the 
hedgehog, " says Captain Brown, " the porcupine possesses 
them in greater strength, for its formidable quills are capable 
of inflicting severe wounds. When irritated or in danger it 
raises its quills on its back ; but it is though fretful, not fierce 
in disposition but easily tamed." When cornered the por- 
cupine turns its back to its assailant, who usually wounds 
himself by coming in contact with the quills. The porcupine 
lives in burrows by itself; it is a lonely animal. The Cavies 
and the Agouti of America are classified with this family. 



HARES AND RABBITS. 24 1 

Among the former is the Capybara, the largest of the rodents, 
an animal which attains to from three to four feet in length. 
It belongs to Brazil, Guinea, and Paraguay. The Canadian 
porcupine, and the Brazilian porcupine, are tree porcupines 
and are only found in America. 

The Guinea The Guinea Pig {Cavia Cobayd) is said to be 
Pig- the domestic form of the Cavia Aperea of Brazil 
and Peru. It derives its name from its supposed place of 
origin, as it was said to have been first introduced into England 
from Guinea. It is tailless, but clean and neat in ap- 
pearance, being marked with black, white, and orange colours. 
It is said to lack intelligence and to be destitute of attach- 
ment, suffering its young to be destroyed without resistance. 
Perhaps this is due to the fact that it has so many ; it breeds 
at intervals of two months and produces from three to twelve 
young ones at a birth. 
Hares and We come now to the second sub-order of the 

Rabbits. Rodents or animals that gnaw, the Duplicidentati, 
the rodents having four incisor teeth in the upper jaw. This 
brings us to the Hares and Rabbits, of which there are nu- 
merous species, the Common Hare, the Irish or Mountain 
Hare and the Common Rabbit being the best known. The 
Irish or Mountain Hare is somewhat larger than the common 
hare and changes from brown to white in the winter. The 
Sardinian, the Egyptian, the Polar, and the Sage hares are 
other varieties. 

The The Common Hare is a familiar animal and 

Common needs no description. It is found throughout 
Europe and is well known in England. The 
hare hides during the day under cover of low foliage, ferns, 
and the undergrowth of preserves, in spots known as 'forms'. 
Its habit of making a definite track from its form to its feeding 
grounds and of always following its own track makes it an 
easy sacrifice to those who know its ways. It is exceedingly 
swift in its movements, and it is well that it is so, for its 

16 



242 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

only safety is in flight and in the sagacity and cunning it 
shows in eluding its pursuers. Many illustrations of the latter 
have been recorded. Fouilloux mentions a hare which he 
saw start from its form at the sound of a hunter's horn, 
run towards a pool of water at a considerable distance, plunge 
in and swim to some rushes in the middle, and there lay down 
and conceal itself from the pursuit of the dogs. Another 
hare ; when closely pressed passed under a gate, the dogs 
leaping over it. The hare quickly perceived the advantage 
it had gained by this, and so doubled, returning under the 
gate, the dogs following over it as before. This was repeated 
several times until taking advantage of the exhaustion of the 
dogs the hare escaped. The hare will often run perfectly 
straight while in view of the hounds, but immediately on 
gaining the slightest cover will double, and redouble with 
astonishing rapidity, apparently to confuse the scent. 

The following anecdote seems to show remark- 
InteUigence able intelligence on the part of a hare. It is 
of the f rom a statement made by Mr. Yarrell in the 
"Magazine of Natural History": — "A harbour 
of great extent on our southern coast has an island near the 
middle, of considerable size, the nearest point of which is a 
mile distant from the mainland at high water, and with which 
point there is frequent communication by a ferry. Early one 
morning in spring two hares were observed to come down 
from the hills of the mainland towards the seaside, one of 
which from time to time left its companion, and proceeding 
to the very edge of the water, stopped there a minute or 
two, and then returned to its mate. The tide was rising, 
and after waiting some time, one of them, exactly at high 
water, took to the sea, and swam rapidly over, in a straight 
line, to the opposite projecting point of land. The observer 
on this occasion, who was near the spot, but remained 
unperceived by the hares, had no doubt that they were of 
different sexes, and that it was the male — like another Lean- 



HARES AND RABBITS. 243 

der— which swam across the water, as he had probably done 
many times before. It was remarkable that the hares had 
remained on the shore nearly half an hour, one of them 
occasionally examining, as it would seem, the state of the 
current, and ultimately taking to the sea at that precise period 
of the tide called slack water, when the passage across could 
be effected without being carried by the force of the stream 
either above or below the desired point of landing. The 
other hare then cantered back to the hills." 
A Hunted The following story of a hunted hare is from 
Hare. « The Annals of Sporting," for May 1822 :— * Two 
years ago, a doe hare produced two young ones in a field 
adjoining my cottage; and the three were occasionally seen, 
during the summer, near the same spot. But the leverets 
were, I have reason to believe, killed at the latter end of 
September of the same year; the old doe hare was also 
coursed, and making directly for my cottage, entered the 
garden, and there blinked the dogs. I repeatedly afterwards 
saw her sitting, sometimes in the garden, (which is one 
hundred and ten yards by forty-three,) but more frequently 
in the garden-hedge. She was repeatedly seen by greyhounds 
when she sat at some distance, but uniformly made for the 
garden, and never failed to find security. About the end of 
the following January, puss was no longer to be seen about 
the garden, as she had probably retired to some distance 
with a male companion. One day, in February, I heard the 
hounds, and shortly afterwards observed a hare making towards 
the garden, which it entered at a place well known, and left 
not the least doubt on my mind, that it was my old acquaintance, 
which, in my family, was distinguished by the name of Kitty. 
The harriers shortly afterwards came in sight, followed Kitty, 
and drove her from the garden. I became alarmed for the 
safety of my poor hare, and heartily wished the dogs might 
come to an irrecoverable fault. The hare burst away with 
the fleetness of the wind, and was followed breast high, by 



244 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

her fierce and eager pursuers. In about twenty minutes I 
observed Kitty return towards the garden, apparently much 
exhausted, and very dirty. She took shelter beneath a small 
heap of sticks, which lay at no great distance from the 
kitchen door. No time was to be lost, as, by the cry of 
the hounds, I was persuaded they were nearly in sight. I 
took a fishing-net, and, with the assistance of the servant, 
covered poor Kitty, caught her, and conveyed the little, 
panting, trembling creature into the house. The harriers 
were soon at the spot, but no hare was to be found. I am 
not aware that I ever felt greater pleasure than in thus saving 
poor Kitty from her merciless pursuers. Towards evening I 
gave Kitty her liberty; I turned her out in the garden, and 
saw her not again for some time. In the course of the 
following summer, however, I saw a hare several times, which 
I took to be my old friend ; and, in the latter end of October, 
Kitty was again observed in the garden. Henceforward she 
was occasionally seen as on the preceding winter. One 
morning, in January, when I was absent, a gun was fired near 
my cottage; Kitty was heard to scream, but, nevertheless, 
entered the garden vigorously. The matter was related to 
me on my return home ; and I was willing to hope that Kitty 
would survive. However, I had some doubt on the subject; 
and, the next morning, as soon as light permitted, I explored 
the garden, and found that my poor unfortunate favourite 
had expired; she was stretched beneath a large goose- 
berry tree; and I could not help very much regretting her 
death." 

Tame Hares. Though exceedingly timid creatures hares are 
readily tamed, and have often become as domesticated 
as cats and dogs. Cowper's experiments with hares will natu- 
rally occur to the reader, besides which there are cases 
recorded where tame hares have been associated in domesti- 
city with cats and even sporting dogs. One possessed by 
Mr. A. S. Moffat was thus domiciled and would feed from 



TOOTHLESS ANIMALS. 245 

the same plate with a cat and a dog. This hare would knock 
a book out of its master's hand to secure his attention. 
The Common The Common Rabbit is found all over the 
Babbit. British Isles, as well as in France and Spain; 
and in the north of Africa where it is indigenous. It is 
smaller than the hare and lives in burrows, in large num- 
bers, completely honey-combing sand hills which are covered 
with grass and vegetation. Before producing her young, the 
female forms a separate burrow where she conceals them 
after birth. This is done to protect them from the male 
who destroys, if he discovers them. The young are born 
blind and gain their sight after ten days. They are a month 
old before they are allowed to leave the burrow. 

ORDER XI. Curiously enough this order, though de- 
Tootniess nominated toothless, includes several animals 
Animals. which have well developed dental arrange- 
ments. In these, however, the teeth are not found in the 
front of the jaw, and those which are found are elementary 
and simple. Several families are classified with this order, of 
which the Sloth, the Pangolin, the Armadillo, the Cape Ant- 
Bear, and the Ant-Eater are the best known representatives. 

The Sloth. The Sloth belongs to South America. " In its 
wild state," says Waterton, " the Sloth spends its whole life in 
the trees, and never leaves them but through force or acci- 
dent, and, what is more extraordinary, not upon the branches, 
like the squirrel and monkey, but under them. He moves 
suspended from the branch, he rests suspended from the 
branch, and he sleeps suspended from the branch. " " In fact," 
says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "as Sydney Smith observes, he 
passes a life of suspense, like a curate distantly related to a 
Bishop. To render it fit for this singular mode of life, its 
long and powerful arms are furnished with strong curved 
claws, which hook round the branches, and keep the animal 
suspended without any effort. When on the ground, these 
claws are very inconvenient, and it can barely shuffle 



246 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

along; but when it is in its native element, it moves with 
exceeding rapidity, particularly in a gale of wind, when it 
passes from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, with 
an activity which its movements on the ground by no means 
portend. " 

The There are two species of the Pangolin, or 

Pangolin. Manis, the long-tailed and the short-tailed, the 
former being a native of Africa and the latter of the East Indies. 
The long-tailed manis measures about five feet inclusive of 
the tail which is about three feet long, the short-tailed manis 
about four feet in all. All the upper parts of its body are 
closely covered with scales of different sizes, which, as they 
are attached to the skin only by the lower extremity, it can 
erect at pleasure, opposing to its adversary a formidable row 
of offensive weapons. They are sharp at the point, and so 
hard as, on collision, to strike fire like a flint. The moment 
it perceives the approach of an enemy, it rolls itself up like 
a hedgehog, by which means it covers all the weaker parts 
of its body. The Pangolins live on ants, which they catch 
by thrusting their long slender tongues into the midst of their 
prey, their tongues being covered by a gummy saliva to which 
the ants adhere. 

The The Armadillo is a native of South America, 

ArmadiUo. [ n which country there are several varieties. They 
are all covered with a strong crust or shell, resembling, as 
the Rev. J. G. Wood puts it, "the modified plate armour" worn 
by men in the 16th century. They eat vegetables and insects, 
and do good work as scavengers. They burrow with great 
rapidity and when rolled up, after the manner of the hedgehog, 
are invulnerable to their ordinary enemies. 

The Cape The Cape Ant-Bear belongs to the Cape of 

Ant-Bear. Good Hope. It differs from the ant-eaters of the 
western world in many ways, being a hairy animal without 
scales, its head resembling that of the deer kind, having long 
ears but no horns. The length of its body which is covered 



POUCHED ANIMALS. 247 

with bristles is about four feet, and its feet which are short, 
are furnished with strong claws which enable it to excavate 
the cavities in which it lives. 

The Ant- The true Ant-Eater is found in the South 
Eater. American tropics. The Great Ant-Eater belongs 
to La Plata, the Little Ant-Eater to the Brazils. The Great 
Ant- Eater is four feet in length, without its tail, which is 
two feet six inches long. The true ant-eater like the Pan- 
golin already described inserts its long tongue into the nest 
of the ant, catching its little victims in large numbers by 
the sticky mucus which covers its tongue. 
ORDER XII 0^ tne severa l families classed in this order 
Pouched the opossums and the kangaroos are the most 
Animals. familiar. The Dasyures of Tasmania and the 
Bandicoots of Australia and New Guinea also belong to this 
order, as do the many varieties of the Phalanger of Australasia 
and those of the Wombat of Tasmania. The pouch is one 
of the most remarkable provisions of Nature, the young of 
the pouched animals being small and of imperfect form at 
birth and requiring the protection of the pouch for their 
sustenance and development. 

The The common Opossum, which is a native of 

Opossum. Virginia, is about the size of a badger. It is 
provided with a pouch, in w T hich it carries its young, and 
into which they leap on the approach of danger. Its covering 
is a coat of long fur, of a dingy white colour. It feeds upon 
fish, birds, insects, and reptiles. Its tail is very muscular, and 
by this it hangs from the branches of trees and, watching its 
prey, lets itself fall upon its victims with great precision. 
Its hind feet are formed something like hands, by which it is 
enabled to climb with wonderful facility. The opossum when 
caught often simulates death so admirably that he deceives 
his captors and ultimately escapes them. 

The The Kangaroo belongs to Australia and New 

Kangaroo. Guinea. The length of its body is from four to 



248 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

five feet six inches; its fore legs are very short; its hind ones 
very long. Its tail is from three to four feet in length, and its 
strength is such, that a stroke of it will break a man's leg. 
The Kangaroo moves by great leaps or bounds of from twelve 
to twenty feet. It is covered with a short soft fur, of a reddish 
ash-colour. It feeds on vegetables, and has a pouch for its 
young, like the opossum. Mr. Cunningham says: "The 
Kangaroos make no use of the short fore legs, except in 
grazing. When chased, they hop upon their hind legs, bound- 
ing onward at a most amazing rate, the tail wagging up and 
down as they leap, and serving them for a balance. They 
will bound over gulleys and deep declivities, and fly right 
over the tops of low brush wood." There are several varieties 
of this animal; one of which, called the Rat Kangaroo, is 
only the size of a rabbit ; another, called the Tree Kangaroo, 
can hop about on trees in an extraordinary manner and is 
furnished with curved claws, on its fore paws, similar to those 
of the sloth, by which he can lay hold of the branches. 

Kangaroo Kangaroo hunting is a favourite Australian sport. 

Hunting, jt i s not unattended with danger either to dogs 
or men, the sharp claws and powerful hind legs of the animal 
making it a formidable enemy at close quarters. Dawson in his 
"Present State of Australia" says: "A full-sized ' wool man' 
at bay always sits on his haunches, and when he rises to 
move forward, he stands four, or four and a half feet high. 
In this manner, he will, when pressed, meet a man, and hug 
and scratch him, if not to death, in such a way that he does 
not soon forget it. When hard pressed, and near to water, 
the kangaroo always takes it; if it be deep water, and the 
dogs follow him, one or the other is almost sure to be drowned. 
If a single dog, the kangaroo is nearly certain to come off 
victorious, by taking his assailant in his fore arms, and holding 
him under water till he is dead; but, if he has two dogs 
opposed to him, he is not left at liberty to hold either of 
his opponents long enough under water to drown him, and 



MONOTREMATA. 249 

he generally himself falls a sacrifice, after a long and hard 
struggle. Notwithstanding the courage and ferocity of the 
kangaroo, when pressed, he is otherwise extremely timid, and 
more easily domesticated than any wild animal with which I 
am acquainted. The smaller ones are frequently quite as 
swift as a hare; and I have sometimes seen them outstrip 
the fleetest dogs." Young and inexperienced dogs are almost 
sure to fall victims to the sharp claw and powerful hind leg 
of the kangaroo, with one stroke of which he will rip the dog 
open and let his entrails out. 
ORDER XIII. The order Monotremata includes two fami- 

Monotremata. lies, the Ornithorhynchidce and the Echidni- 
dce, both of which belong to Australia. The Duck-billed 
Platypus belongs to the former, the Australian Hedgehog to 
the latter family. 

The ^he Duck-billed Platypus is one if the most 

Duck-billed singular of animals. "When it was first introduced 

Platypus. int0 Europe" says Mr. Wood, "it was fully believed 
to be the manufacture of some impostor, who with much 
ingenuity had fixed the beak of a duck into the head of 
some unknown animal. It will, however, be seen by 
examining the skull of the animal, that this duck -like beak 
is caused by a prolongation of some of the bones of the 
head. " The Platypus lives on the banks of rivers in burrows 
which it forms, and feeds on water insects and small shell 
fish. It is web-footed but its feet are so constructed that it 
can fold back the web when it wants to burrow, and unfold 
it when it wants to swim. The hind feet of the male are 
armed with a sharp spur. 

The The Australian Hedgehog is about a foot long. 

Australian It lives in burrows and feeds on insects, has a long 
e ge og. ton g Ue b ut no teeth. It has spines from which 
circumstance it is called a hedgehog after its English name- 
sake, though its spines are almost hidden by its hair. It is 
said to be a dull, unintelligent animal. 



THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

SUB-KINGDOM VERTEBRATA. 

CLASS II— AVES. 

Classification. The Birds are distinguished from the Mammals 
by many obvious characteristics, chief among which are their 
bodily form, their feathery covering and their manner of 
producing their young by means of eggs. The Birds form 
the second class of the sub -kingdom Vertebrata and according 
to the classification followed in this work are divided into ten 
orders. These orders are, I Passeres : birds characterised by 
the habit of perching ; II Picarise : birds that climb, etc. 
Ill Psittacini : the Parrots ; IV Columbse : the Doves ; V 
Gallinse : the Fowls ; VI Opisthocomi : the Hoazin of Brazil 
and Guinea; VII Accipitres: the Birds of Prey; VIII Gralla- 
tores : the birds that wade ; IX Anseres : the Birds that swim ; 
X Struthiones : the Ostrich, the Emu, etc., etc. 
ORDER I ^he species of this order are very numerous, and 
Perching have been variously divided by different authorities. 
Birds. M r< Wallace forms them into five groups, which 
classification we shall find it convenient to follow. These 
five groups are: I The Thrushes and Thrush-like perching 
birds ; II The Tanagers and similar kinds ; III The Starlings 
and allied species ; IV The Ant-eaters, etc., and V The Lyre 
Birds, and the Scrub Birds of Australia. The first group 
includes many well known feathered favourites : the Thrush ; 
the Blackbird ; the Mocking Bird ; the Tailor Bird ; the 

Wren; the Robin; the Nightingale; the Titmouse; the 

250 



PERCHING BIRDS. 251 

Golden Oriole; the Jay ; the Magpie; the Raven ; the Rook ; 
the Carrion Crow ; the Jackdaw ; the Chough ; and the Bird 
of Paradise. The second group includes the Swallow ; the 
Martin ; the Goldfinch ; the Linnet ; the Canary ; the Bull- 
finch ; the Bunting and many others. The third group con- 
tains the Starlings ; the Weaver Bird ; the Lark ; the Wagtail, 
and the Pipits ; the fourth group, the King Bird of North 
America ; the Manakins of Guinea ; the Chatterers of South 
America ; the Bell Bird of Brazil, and the Umbrella Bird of 
the Amazon. The fifth group contains the Lyre Birds and 
the Scrub Birds of Australia. 

The The order of Thrush-like perching birds is a 

Thrush. verv large one, including nearly three thousand 
known varieties. Of these it will be impossible, within present 
limits, to even mention a very large number, and we shall 
content ourselves with dealing with a few of the better known 
species. 
The Common The Thrush is one of the most popular of 

Thrush. English native birds, as its song is one of the 
most beautiful of those of the bird kind. It is a herald of 
the English spring and summer, beginning to sing at the end 
of January and continuing until July. It builds its nest in a 
hedge or bush, and, as it breeds early in the year, lines it 
with a plaster of mud to protect its young from the cold winds. 
It is a bold bird and will vigorously defend its nest from the 
attacks of larger birds. It feeds on insects, snails and worms. 

"Watch an old thrush," says Dr. Stanley, "pounce down 
on a lawn, moistened with dew and rain. At first he stands 
motionless, apparently thinking of nothing at all, his eye 
vacant, or with an unmeaning gaze. Suddenly he cocks his 
ear on one side, makes a glancing sort of dart with his head 
and neck, gives perhaps one or two hops, and then stops, 
again listening attentively, and his eye glistening with atten- 
tion and animation; his beak almost touches the ground, — 
he draws back his head as if to make a determined peck. 



252 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Again he pauses ; listens again ; hops, perhaps once or twice, 
scarcely moving his position, and pecks smartly on the sod ; 
then is once more motionless as a stuffed bird. But he knows 
well what he is about; for, after another moment's pause, 
having ascertained that all is right, he pecks away with might 
and main, and soon draws out a fine worm, which his fine 
sense of hearing had informed him was not far off, and which 
his hops and previous peckings had attracted to the surface, 
to escape the approach of what the poor worm thought might 
be his underground enemy, the mole." 

The Missel The Missel Thrush, so called from its fondness 
Thrush. f or the mistletoe, is larger than the common or 
song thrush, less melodious and not so common in England, 
but well known upon the continent of Europe. Like the 
song thrush it finds a determined enemy in the magpie, 
against which it often defends itself with success. It is, how- 
ever, unable to withstand a combined attack. Gilbert White 
says : "The Missel-thrush is, while breeding, fierce and pugna- 
cious, driving such birds as approach its nest with great fury 
to a distance. The Welsh call it "pen y llwyn," the head 
or master of the coppice. He suffers no magpie, jay, or 
blackbird, to enter the garden where he haunts; and is, for 
the time, a good guard to the new-sown legumens. In general, 
he is very successful in the defence of his family ; but once 
I observed in my garden, that several magpies came deter- 
mined to storm the nest of a missel- thrush : the dams defended 
their mansion with great vigour, and fought resolutely//-^ arts 
et focis ; but numbers at last prevailed, they tore the nest to 
pieces, and swallowed the young alive." 

The The Blackbird is another of the most cherished 

Blackbird. f English song birds. It is one of the earliest 
to wake the morning with a song. Its habits are similar to 
those of the Thrush ; it builds its nest in bushes, in shrubberies 
and gardens, safe from the sight, but close to the haunts of 
man. It lines its nest with a plaster of mud which it covers 



THE THRUSH— THE BLACKBIRD. 253 

over with dry grass, and is exemplary in the care of its young. 
It has a black coat as its name implies, and an orange 
tawny bill. The blackbird has to some extent the power 
of the mocking bird, of imitating the sounds it hears, — such 
as the chuckling of a hen, the song of the nightingale, the 
caw of the crow. In the "Magazine of Natural History" of 
September 1831, Mr. Bouchier of Wold Rectory, near North- 
ampton, says : " Within half a mile of my residence there is 
a blackbird which crows constantly, and as accurately as the 
common cock, and nearly as loud; as it may, on a still day, 
be heard at the distance of several hundred yards. When 
first told of the circumstance, I conjectured that it must have 
been the work of a cock pheasant, concealed in a neighbour- 
ing brake; but, on the assurance that it was nothing more or 
less than a common blackbird, I determined to ascertain the 
fact with my own eyes and ears; and this day I had the 
gratification of getting close to it, seated on the top bough 
of an ash tree, and pursuing with unceasing zeal its unusual 
note. The resemblance to the crow of the domestic cock 
is so perfect, that more than one in the distance were an- 
swering it. It occasionally indulged in its usual song; but 
only for a second or two; resuming its more favourite note; 
and once or twice it commenced with crowing, and broke off 
in the middle into its natural whistle. In what way this 
bird has acquired its present propensity I am unable to say, 
except that as its usual haunt is near a mill where poultry 
are kept, it may have learned the note from the common 
fowl." 

The Blackbird of America resembles his English cousin in 
most particulars. He is often seen following the plough, 
looking for worms in the fresh furrows, and frequently, like the 
crow, stealing the planted maize or Indian corn from the hill. 
In the autumn the American Blackbirds gather in vast flocks, 
and sometimes produce a roar like the rush of a waterfall 
by their flight. 



254 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The The Mocking Bird is a native of America and 

Mocking many stories are told of its wonderful powers 

Bird. Q f mirxiicry. The following description is furnished 
by Wilson: "The plumage of the Mocking Bird, though 
none of the homeliest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, 
and, had he nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely 
entitle him to notice ; but his figure is well proportioned, and 
even handsome. The ease, elegance, and rapidity of his 
movements, the animation of his eye, and the intelligence 
he displays in listening, and laying up lessons from almost 
every species of the feathered creation within his hearing, 
are really surprising, and mark the peculiarity of his genius. 
In his native groves, mounted upon the top of a tall bush 
or half grown tree, in the dawn of a dewy morning, while 
the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers, 
his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every competitor. 
The ear can listen to his music alone, to which that of all 
the others seems a mere accompaniment. Neither is this 
strain altogether imitative. His own native notes, which are 
easily distinguishable by such as are acquainted with those 
of our various song birds, are bold and full, and varied 
seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short expres- 
sions of two, three, or at the most five or six syllables, generally 
interspersed with imitations, and all of them uttered with 
great emphasis and rapidity, and continued with undiminished 
ardour for half an hour, or an hour, at a time. His expanded 
w r ings and tail, glistening with white, and the buoyant gaiety 
of his action, arresting the eye, as his song most irresistibly 
does the ear, he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy and 
mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away. ' He 
bounds aloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover 
or recall his very soul, which expired in the last elevated 
strain. ' He often deceives the sportsman, and sends him in 
search of birds that are not perhaps within miles of him, but 
whose notes he exactly imitates : even birds themselves are 



THE MOCKING BIRD - THE WREN. 255 

frequently imposed upon by this admirable mimic, and are 
decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates, or dive with 
precipitation into the depth of thickets at the scream of what 
they suppose to be the sparrow-hawk." 

The Tailor The Tailor Bird is a small bird of no very 
Bird - remarkable appearance, but it is singular from 
its habit of sewing leaves together in forming its nest. This it 
does by using its beak as a needle, and certain vegetable fibres 
as thread, and sewing the edges of leaves together in the form 
of a pocket, in which it deposits its eggs and rears its young. 
The Golden The Golden Crested Wren is the smallest 

Crested Wren. f British Birds, and it is one of the most 
beautiful, acccording to Mrs. Bowdich it only weighs eighty 
grains. It is peculiar among British birds for suspending its 
nest to the boughs of trees. Its nest is an elegant structure, some- 
times open at the top, sometimes covered with a dome, having 
an entrance at the side. It is a tame bird, and often visits 
country gardens where it may be distinguished by its green and 
yellow coat with white facings, and its golden crest. Captain 
Brown says : " its song is weak and intermittent, yet sweet as 
that which fancy attributes to the fairy on the moonlight hill." 
The Captain Brown, quoting from " Selby's Ornitho- 

Migration logy", gives an interesting account of the way in 
of Birds. w hich our native birds are reinforced from other 
countries.—" On the 24th and 25th of October, 1822," says Mr. 
Selby, " after a very severe gale, with thick fog, from the 
North East, (but veering, towards its conclusion, to the east 
and south of east,) thousands of these birds were seen to 
arrive upon the sea-shore and sand-banks of the Northum- 
brian coast; many of them so fatigued by the length of 
their flight, or perhaps by the unfavourable shift of wind, as 
to be unable to rise again from the ground, and great num- 
bers were in consequence caught or destroyed. This flight 
must have been immensely numerous, as its extent was traced 
through the whole length of the coasts of Northumberland 



256 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and Durham. There appears little doubt of this having 
been a migration from the more northern provinces of Europe 
(probably furnished by the pine forests of Norway, Sweden, 
&c), from the circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous 
with that of large flights of the woodcock, fieldfare, and 
redwing. Although I had never before witnessed the actual 
arrival of the gold-crested regulus, I had long felt convinced, 
from the great and sudden increase of the species, during 
the autumnal and hyemal months that our indigenous birds 
must be augmented by a body of strangers making these 
shores their winter's resort. — A more extraordinary circumstance 
in the economy of this bird took place during the same 
winter, viz., the total disappearance of the whole, natives as 
well as strangers, throughout Scotland and the north of 
England. This happened towards the conclusion of the 
month of January 1823, and a few days previous to the long- 
continued snow-storm so severely felt throughout the northern 
counties of England, and along the eastern parts of Scotland. 
The range and point of this migration are unascertained, but 
it must probably have been a distant one, from the fact of 
not a single pair having returned to breed, or pass the 
succeeding summer, in the situations they had been known 
always to frequent. Nor was one of the species to be seen 
till the following October, or about the usual time, as I have 
above stated, for our receiving an annual accession of strang- 
ers to our own indigenous birds." 

The The Willow Wren is a summer visitor to the 

Willow British Isles. He arrives about the end of March 

ren * and leaves in the month of September. He is 

an active little bird, an expert fly-catcher and an agreeable 

singer. His coat is of a greenish yellow-brown, his waistcoat 

is white tinged with yellow. 

The ^^ e Common Wren is indigenous to Great 

Common Britain. It builds its nest under the shelter of 

Wren. thatched eaves, in out-of-the-way and unusual 



THE WREN. 257 

places. It is a plain homely looking little bird of a pale 
chestnut brown colour. Captain Brown gives the following 
interesting description of a wren's music lesson. 

A Wren's " A pair of wrens, " says Captain Brown, " built 

Music Lesson, their nest in a box, so situated that the family on 
the grounds had an opportunity of observing the mother's care 
in instructing her young ones to sing. She seated herself on 
one side of the opening of the box, facing her young, and 
commenced by singing over all her notes very slowly and 
distinctly. One of the little ones then attempted to imitate 
her. After chirping rather inharmoniously a few notes, its 
pipe failed, and it went off the tune- The mother immedi- 
ately took up the tune where the young one had failed, and 
distinctly finished the remaining part. The young one made 
a second attempt, commencing where it had left off, and con- 
tinuing for a few notes with tolerable distinctness, when it again 
lost the notes; the mother began again where it ceased, and 
went through with the air. The young one again resumed 
the tune and completed it. When this was done, the mother 
again sung over the whole of her song with great precision; 
and then another of the young attempted to follow it, who 
likewise was incapable of going through with the tune, but the 
parent treated it as she had done the first bird; and so on 
with the third and fourth. It sometimes happened that the 
little one would lose the tune, even three or four times in 
making the attempt; in which case the mother uniformly 
commenced where it had ceased, and always sung to the end 
of the tune ; and when each had completed the trial, she 
always sung over the whole song. Sometimes two of them 
commenced the strain together, in which case she pursued 
the same conduct towards them, as she had done when one 
sung. This was repeated at intervals every day, while they 
remained in their nest." 

The The American House Wren is described by 

House "Wren. Audubon as a cheery familiar little bird, resem- 

17 



258 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

bling the common wren in many of his habits, if not indeed 
identical with it. 

Wilson says, " in the month of June a mower hung up his 
coat, under a shed, near the barn, and two or three days 
elapsed before he had occasion to put it on again, when 
thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he found it completely filled 
with some rubbish, as he called it, and on extracting the 
whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren completely 
finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his 
retreat, he was followed by the forlorn little proprietors, who 
scolded him with great vehemence for thus ruining the whole 
economy of their household affairs." Wilson also tells a 
very pretty story of a pair of wrens who built their nest 
upon a window sill, one of whom, the female, venturing to 
enter the room was devoured by a cat. The male bird 
showed much uneasiness when he missed his mate, but 
after a time disappeared for two days, returning with a new 
wife, and with her help removing the two eggs left by her 
predecessor to a new nest in a more secure position. 

The The Nightingale and the Sky-Lark, may perhaps 

Nightingale. b e sa id to divide honours in the sphere of feathered 
song. Both have entranced innumerable auditors and both 
have won noble tributes from poets' pens. Both, moreover, 
are plain birds. The nightingale is of a tawny colour on the 
head and back, and of a greyish white on the throat and 
under parts. It has a full large eye of great brightness. It 
is one of the largest of the song birds, measuring seven inches 
in length. The nightingale is found in Yorkshire but not in 
Lancashire, also in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Dorsetshire, Somer- 
setshire and East Devonshire, but not in Cornwall. It belongs 
to France, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Palestine. 

The " The Nightingale's song, " says the author of 

Nighingale's "Tales of Animals," unites strength and sweetness, 

Song. j n a most won d er f u i degree, as its notes may be 
heard on a calm evening at the distance of half a mile. 



THE NIGHTINGALE. 259 

The most consummate musician might listen with delight to 
its song, whatever might be his peculiar taste, as it can at 
one moment thrill the heart with joy and at another melt it 
to sober sadness, by the laughing and sighing modulations 
which follow each other in rapid succession through the 
melody, which is seldom interrupted by a pause. As if 
conscious of its unrivalled powers, it does not join the some- 
times discordant concert of the other songsters, but waits on 
some solitary twig till the blackbird and thrush have uttered 
their evening call, till the stock and ring doves have lulled 
each other to rest, and then it displays at full its melodious 
fancies." The following is an attempt made by a well-known 
naturalist to reduce the song to writing: 

"Thru tiuu tiau tiuu — Spe tiuu zqua — Tio tio tio tio tio tio 
tio tix — Qutio qutio qutio qutio — Zquo zquo zquo zquo — 
Tzii tzii tzii tzii tzii tzii tzii tzii tzii tzi — Quorror tiu zqua 
pipiquisi — Zozozozozozozozozozozozo zirrhading! " &c. &c. 

Quaint old Izaac Walton says : " But the nightingale, another 
of my airy creatures, breathes such sweet, loud music out of 
her instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think 
that miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the 
very labourer sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very 
often, the clear airs, the sweet descents, the natural rising 
and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might 
well be lifted above earth, and say, ' Lord, what music hast 
thou provided for the saints in Heaven, when thou affordest 
bad men such music on earth! 3 " 
The Robin The Robin Redbreast is a prime favourite in 
Redbreast. English cottage homes. Its appearance on the 
window sill at the approach of winter is an irresistible appeal 
to human sympathy and seldom fails of a hearty response. 
Captain Brown mentions a robin which, during a severe storm, 
came to the window of the room where his father sat, upon 
which his father opened the window, to give it some crumbs. 
"Instead of flying away, the robin hopped into the room, 



260 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and picked the crumbs from the floor. His father, being 
very fond of animals, took great pleasure in taming this bird, 
and so completely succeeded, that it would pick small pieces 
of raw flesh and worms from his hand, sat on the table at 
which he wrote, and, when the day was very cold, perched 
upon the fender. When a stranger entered, it flew to the 
top of a door, where it perched every night. The window 
was frequently opened to admit air, but the robin never 
offered to go away. As the spring advanced, and the weather 
became fine, it flew away every morning, and returned every 
evening, till the time of incubation arrived, and it then flew 
away altogether. At the next fall of the year it again asked 
for admittance, and behaved exactly in the same manner as 
before. It did this a third time, but when it flew away the 
ensuing spring, it was never seen again." Robins have been 
known to build their nests in queer places. Mrs. Bowdich 
tells of one which attached its nest to the Bible of the parish 
church of Hampton, Warwickshire, and of others which built 
theirs on the reading desk of a church in Wiltshire and 
deposited six eggs in it. 
The Intelligence The Robin is an intelligent little bird and 

of the Robin. some pretty stories are told of its sagacity. 
Mrs. Bowdich mentions a gardener who was in the service 
of a friend of hers, who having made a pet of a robin, was 
one day much struck with the uneasiness of his little friend, 
and concluding that he wanted assistance followed him to 
his nest, which occupied a flower pot, when he discovered 
that a snake had coiled itself round the little home. Happily 
the gardener was in time to save the birds though at the 
snake's expense. In "The Gardener's Chronicle" there is a 
story, quoted by Mrs. Bowdich, of a robin which having been 
caught young and kept with a nightingale, learned the night- 
ingale's song so perfectly as to be indistinguishable in uer- 
formance. 

The Titmouse. There are several varieties of the Titmouse ; 



THE ROBIN— THE TITMOUSE. 26 1 

the Blue Titmouse, the Great Titmouse, arid the Long-tailed 
Titmouse are some of these. The Blue Titmouse, sometimes 
called a Tomtit, is a plucky little bird and resists capture 
with such vigour that according to the Rev. J. G. Wood it has 
become known to rustic boys by the name of " Billybiter." 
"The angry hiss of the female," says Mr. Wood, "has fre- 
quently caused an intruding hand to be rapidly withdrawn, for 
the sound is so exceedingly like the hiss of an irritated snake, 
and the little beak is so sharp, that few have the courage to 
proceed with their investigations. A pair of these birds built 
their nest in the coping of the Great Western Railway, at 
the Shrivenham station, not two feet from the fiery and 
noisy engines, which were constantly passing. The men re- 
spected the courage of the little birds, and the whole brood 
was hatched, and suffered to fly at liberty." 

The Great Titmouse is found in various parts of Europe. 
According to Mrs. Bowdich it is sufficiently pliable to roll 
itself up in a ball, and is strong enough to crack a hazel nut. 
She says, " It will plant itself at the door of a hive, and tap 
loudly on "the edge; which signal is answered by a sentinel 
bee who is immediately snapped up, taken to the bough of 
a tree where he is beaten to death, and then loses his head 
and thorax; the rest of him being unworthy of the appetite 
of his captor." The Long-tailed Titmouse is famous for the 
beauty, security and warmth of its nest. 
The Golden The Golden Oriole deserves mention if only 
Oriole. f or ^s beautiful name; it has, however, other 
claims to attention. It is found in Europe and Australia and 
visits England occasionally during the summer, but is not 
found in America. The male is a very handsome bird of a 
golden yellow colour, with wings arid tail of black, the 
feathers of the latter ending in yellow. It lives on fruit and 
berries, and, failing these, insects, and inhabits thickets and 
wooded spots adjacent to orchards, upon which it commits 
serious depredations. 



262 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Shrike. There are several species of Shrikes, the 
Thick-headed Shrike, the Great Shrike, and the Red-backed 
Shrike being among these. The Great Shrike belongs to both 
Europe and America. In appearance it resembles the 
Mocking Bird for which it is sometimes mistaken. It 
preys upon mice, frogs, birds, grasshoppers and large insects, 
killing and then impaling them upon thorns until such time 
as it chooses to eat them. Its rapacity has earned for 
it the name of "the Butcher Bird." According to Mr. 
Bell these birds are kept tame in the houses in Russia. One 
in his possession was furnished with a sharply pointed stick 
for a perch, on the end of which it spitted any bird or animal 
it caught. The Shrike believes in a well filled larder, and 
does not proceed to eat his game until he has a good stock. 
He is also known as the " Nine-killer " in America, from his 
supposed preference for spitting that number at a forage. 

The Jay. We now come to the family of the Corvidae, 

the crow family, which includes the Jays, the Magpies and 
the Choughs. The Common Jay is indigenous in England 
where it secludes itself in woody fastnesses, rarely exposing 
itself in open country. It is a handsome bird about thirteen 
inches long, with beautiful blue markings on its wings, but 
is so shy that it is difficult to get a sight of it when at 
liberty. Taken young it may be easily tamed, when it becomes 
an amusing, if mischievous pet. It has considerable powers 
of mimicry and can imitate the common sounds it hears with 
wonderful exactness. The bleat of the lamb, the mew of the 
cat, the neigh of the horse and the cries of other birds give 
exercise to this faculty, and Bewick says : " We have heard 
one imitate the sound made by the action of a saw, so exactly, 
that though it was on a Sunday, we could hardly be persuaded 
that the person who kept it had not a carpenter at work in 
the house. ,, Like many other birds it becomes bold in the 
care and protection of its young. Knapp in his "Journals 
of a Naturalist" says : 



THE JAY. 263 

u This bird is always extremely timid, when its own interest 
or safety is solely concerned; but no sooner does its hungry 
brood clamour for supply, than it loses all its wary character, 
and becomes a bold and impudent thief. At this period it 
will visit our gardens, which it rarely approaches at other 
times, plunder them of every raspberry, cherry, or bean, that 
it can obtain, and will not cease from rapine as long as any of 
the brood or the crop remains. We see all the nestlings 
approach, and, settling near some meditated scene of plunder, 
quietly await a summons to commence. A parent bird 
from some tree, surveys the ground, then descends upon 
the cherry, or into the rows, immediately announces a dis- 
covery, by a low but particular call, and all the family flock 
into the banquet, which having finished by repeated visits, 
the old birds return to the woods, with all their chattering 
children, and become the same wild, cautious creatures they 
were before." 

The Blue Wilson gives the following description of the 
Jay. Bi ue j a y. "This elegant bird, peculiar to North 
America, is distinguished as a kind of beau among the 
feathered tenants of the woods, by the brilliancy of his dress ; 
and like most other coxcombs, makes himself still more 
conspicuous by his loquacity, and the oddness of his tones 
and gestures. Of all birds he is the most bitter enemy to 
the owl. No sooner has he discovered the retreat of one 
of these, than he calls the whole feathered fraternity to 
his assistance, who surround the glimmering recluse, and 
attack him froi.\ all sides, raising such a shout as may be 
heard on a still d?v more than half a mile off. The owl 
at length, forced to betake himself to flight, is followed by his 
whole train of persecutors, until driven beyond the boundaries 
of their jurisdiction. But the blue jay himself is not guiltless 
of similar depredations as the owl and becomes in his 
turn the very tyrant he detested, and he is sometimes attacked 
with such spirit as to be under the necessity of making a 



264 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

speedy retreat. The blue jay is not only bold and vociferous, 
but possesses a considerable talent for mimicry, and seems 
to enjoy great satisfaction in mocking and teasing other birds, 
particularly the little hawk, imitating his cry whenever he 
sees him, and squeaking out as if caught; this soon brings 
a number of his own tribe around him, who all join in the 
frolic, darting about the hawk, and feigning the cries of a 
bird sorely wounded, and already in the clutches of its 
devourer; while others lie concealed in bushes, ready to 
second their associates in the attack. But this ludicrous farce 
often terminates tragically. The hawk, singling out one of 
the most insolent and provoking, swoops upon him in an 
unguarded moment, and offers him up a sacrifice to his 
hunger and resentment. In an instant the tune is changed, 
all their buffoonery vanishes, and loud and incessant screams 
proclaim their disaster. Whenever the jay has had the 
advantage of education from man, he has not only shown 
himself an apt scholar, but his suavity of manners seems 
equalled only by his art and contrivances, though it must 
be confessed that his itch for thieving keeps pace with all 
his other acquirements." 

The The Magpie is an ancient bird and is men- 

Magpie, tioned by Plutarch and other early writers. It 
is indigenous in England and shows great industry and in- 
genuity in the construction of its nest, which it lines with 
mud plaster and covers with thorns, building upon high 
trees and in secluded spots. It feeds upon both animal and 
vegetable food, attacking birds, young ducks and chickens, 
as well as mice and even rats, and regaling itself on both 
fruit and grain. It attains to a length of about eighteen 
inches and is a handsome bird, though captivity does not 
improve its appearance. 
The Magpie's The mischievous habits of the magpie have 
Mischief. won f or ft t h e name of "the Monkey of the 
Birds," the Raven as Mr. Wood puts it being "theormtho- 



THE MAGPIE. 265 

logical baboon." Its mischief is displayed in many ways; 
in the wanton destruction of articles and in their crafty 
secretion, as well as in the thievish appropriation of edible 
dainties. Mr. Wood tells of a Wiltshire magpie which " found 
a malicious enjoyment in pecking the unprotected ankles of 
little boys not yet arrived at manly habiliments, and was 
such a terror to the female servants that they were forced 
to pass his lurking-place armed with a broom. One of the 
servants having neglected this precaution, was actually found 
sitting down on the stones to protect her ankles, the magpie 
triumphantly pacing round her, until aid was brought, and 
the bird driven away." Mrs. Bowdich quotes the following 
from Mr. Ranson : " A magpie, kept by a branch of our 
family, was noted for his powers of imitation. He could 
whistle tunes, imitate hens and ducks, and speak very plainly. 
Seated upon a toll-bar gate, he would shout ' Gate, ahoy ! ' 
so distinctly, as to draw out the keeper, who was generally 
saluted by a loud laugh when he answered the call. When 
the keeper's wife was making pastry, he would practise the 
same manoeuvre, and if the trick were not detected, and the 
woman rushed out to open the gate, the magpie darted into 
the house, and speedily made his exit with his bill full of 
paste; and he, in great glee, would chatter about it for some 
time afterwards. He would perch upon the backs of chairs, 
say he was hungry, or inform the juniors of the family it 
was time to go to school. He was allowed to run about, 
but was never out of mischief, and had a constant propensity 
to pilfer and hide small articles." Of the serious conse- 
quences sometimes attending this habit of secreting things, the 
following story from Lady Morgan's " Italy " is a painful 
illustration. — "A noble lady of Florence, resided in a house 
which stands still opposite the lofty Doric column which was 
raised to commemorate the defeat of Pietro Strozzi, and the 
taking of Sienna, by the tyrannic conqueror of both. Cosmo, 
the First, lost a valuable pearl necklace, and one of her 



266 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

waiting-women, (a very young girl) was accused of the theft. 
Having solemnly denied the fact, she was put to the torture, 
which was then a plaisir at Florence. Unable to support 
its terrible infliction, she acknowledged that 'she was guilty,' 
and, without further trial, was hung. Shortly after, Florence 
was visited by a tremendous storm; a thunder-bolt fell on 
the figure of Justice, and split the scales, one of which fell 
to the earth, and with it fell the ruins of a magpie's nest, 
containing the pearl necklace. Those scales are still the 
haunts of birds, and I never saw them hovering round them, 
without thinking of those 'good old times,' when innocent 
women could be first tortured, and then hung on suspicion." 
The The Raven is a large bird, indeed the largest 

Raven. f the British crows, attaining to a length of two 
feet two inches, and having a stretch of wing of four feet eight 
inches, in width. It is an historic bird, being mentioned 
by Pliny who records that a tame one kept in the Temple 
of Castor, was taught by a tailor whom it used to visit, to 
pronounce the name of the Emperor Tiberius and of the 
other members of the Royal family. The fame of the bird 
brought the tailor riches, but excited the jealousy of his 
neighbours, one of whom killed the bird. The record states 
that the offender was punished and the bird accorded a mag- 
nificent funeral. The Raven builds its nest in high trees and 
among inaccessible and precipitous rocks, especially in the 
Hebrides, and lives on carrion, not disdaining fruit and grain. 
Like many other birds who afterwards show little concern 
for their young the Raven is assiduous in its attentions during 
the period of incubation. The following is from White's 
" Natural History of Selborne " : 

" In the centre of a grove near Selborne, there stood an 
oak, which though shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out 
into a large excrescence near the middle of the stem. On 
the tree a pair of ravens had fixed their residence for such 
a series of years, that the oak was distinguished by the name 



THE RAVEN. 267 

of the 'raven tree/ Many were the attempts of the neigh- 
bouring youths to get at this eyrie ; the difficulty whetted 
their inclinations, and each was ambitious of surmounting 
the arduous task; but, when they arrived at the swelling, it 
jutted out so much in their way, and was so far beyond 
their grasp, that the boldest lads were deterred, and acknow- 
ledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. Thus the ravens 
continued to build nest after nest, in perfect security, till the 
fatal day arrived on which the wood was to be levelled. 
This was in the month of February, when these birds usually 
sit. The saw was applied to the trunk, the wedges were 
inserted in the opening, the woods echoed to the heavy 
blows of the beetle or mallet, the tree nodded to its fall; 
but the dam persisted to sit. At last, when it gave way, the 
bird was flung from her nest; and though her maternal affec- 
tion deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, 
which brought her dead to the ground. " Ravens are said 
to pair for life and to live for a hundred years. 
Unnatural Though models of conjugal fidelity, Ravens 
Parents. are sa id to be very unnatural parents, often 
showing not only indifference but cruelty to their young. 
Mr. Morris in his "Anecdotes of Natural History" tells an 
interesting story of a family of ravens whose mother came 
to an untimely death. " For a time the surviving parent 
hovered about the nest, uttering loud and menacing croakings 
whenever anybody approached. At length, however, he 
disappeared, and absented himself for two or three days, 
and then returned with another mate, when a strange scene 
occurred. The poor half-starved nestlings were attacked 
without mercy by the step-mother, who, after severely 
wounding, precipitated them from the nest ; two, however, 
were found at the foot of the tree with signs of life, and 
with great care and attention reared at the rectory, about 
half a mile distant, and after being slightly pinioned, were 
allowed their liberty ; but they seldom quitted the lawn or 



268 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

offices, roosting in a tree in the shrubbery. Here, however, 
they were soon discovered by their unnatural parents, who 
for a long time used to come at early dawn and pounce 
upon them w T ith fierce cries. " In this case it was the step- 
mother and not the mother that treated the young ravens so 
unkindly, and the father may be charitably credited with 
acting under the influence of his second wife. That the 
Raven drives its young out of its nest as soon as they are 
able to provide for themselves is true, but why they should 
pursue them after they have become independent is not clear. 
This habit of the ravens, as Mr. Morris points out, may be 
referred to in the following quotations : " He giveth to the 
beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry " (Psalm 
cxlvii. 9). "Who provideth for the raven his food? when 
his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat " 
(Job xxxviii. 41). 
The Tame The Raven may be easily tamed, and in pri- 
Raven. va t e life [ s always an amusement, if sometimes 
an annoyance. Like all birds which are capable of imitating 
sounds and which learn words and phrases it will often 
"speak its lines," with startling appropriateness as to time 
and place. Captain Brown tells a good story of a Raven 
which belonged to a gentleman who resided on the borders 
of the New Forest in Hampshire. On one occasion a 
traveller who was passing through the forest was startled 
by the frequent repetition of the words: "Fair play, gentle- 
men ! fair play ! for God's sake, gentlemen, fair play ! " and 
upon tracing the source of the sound discovered the tame 
raven defending himself from the attacks of two of his own 
species. It is needless to say that the traveller rescued the 
"gentleman" from the two "ruffians" who molested him. 
Captain Brown also tells of a tame raven who was an 
expert rat-catcher and whose meihod was to place a meat 
bone in front of a rat hole and to stand on a ledge above 
the hole, pouncing on the rat as soon as he emerged from 



THE RAVEN. 269 

his retreat. In this way he captured as many as six in a 
fore-noon. 
The Haven Dr. Stanley tells the following story of a 
and the Dog. Raven and a Dog: "A strong attachment 
was once formed between a raven and a large otter-dog. 
The raven had been taken when young, and reared in 
a stable-yard, where the dog was kept chained up. A 
friendship soon commenced, which, increasing from little to 
more, in time ripened into a most extraordinary degree of 
intimacy. At first the bird was satisfied with hopping about 
in the vicinity of the kennel, and occasionally pecking a hasty 
morsel from the dog's feeding-pan when the latter had finished 
his meal. Finding, however, no interruption on the part of 
his friend, the raven soon became a constant attendant at 
meal times, and, taking up his position on the edge of the 
dish, acted the part of a regular guest and partaker of the 
dog's dinner, which consisted usually of meal and milk, with 
occasional scraps of offal meat, a piece of which the bird 
would often snatch up, almost from the very mouth of the 
dog, and hasten beyond the reach of his chain, as if to 
tantalise his four-footed friend ; and then hopping towards 
him, would play about, and hang it close to his nose ; and 
then as speedily, at the moment the dog was preparing to 
snap it up, would dart off beyond the reach of the chain. 
At other times he would hide the piece of meat under a 
stone, and then coming back, with a cunning look, would 
perch upon the dog's head. It was observed, however, that 
he always ended his pranks by either sharing or giving up 
the whole piece to his friend the dog. By some accident the 
raven had fallen into a tub of water, and, either weakened 
by struggling, or unable to get out owing to its feathers being 
soaked with water, it was nearly drowned. The dog (whether 
the same dog or another does not appear), chained at a short 
distance, saw the poor bird's danger, and dragging his heavy 
kennel towards it, reached his head over the side of the tub, 



270 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

and taking the drowning raven up in his mouth, laid him 
gently on the ground, when he soon recovered." 

The Rook. The Rook which is often confused with the 
Carrion Crow is found in many parts of Europe and is 
abundant in England, where it is common to see groups of 
trees near gentlemen's houses given up to their occupancy. 
Here they build their nests, rear their young, keep up an 
incessant cawing, quarrel and make peace as do all other 
large communities. If a new-comer appears among them, 
he is generally received in a very rough manner. At New- 
castle, a pair of rooks attempted to introduce themselves 
into a rookery, but were so rudely treated, that, in high 
dudgeon, they ascended to the steeple of one of the public 
buildings, and built their nest on the vane. Here they lived 
for several successive seasons, turning about with every change 
of wind, and regardless of the busy scene in the town beneath. 
The rook is gregarious, in which particular it differs from 
the Carrion Crow which lives in pairs. Further differences 
are found in the feathering of the head and neck of these 
birds, that of the crow being much more completely covered 
than that of the rook. The croak of the crow is, moreover, 
much harsher than the caw of the rook. Like most, if not 
all other birds and animals, the rook serves a useful purpose in 
nature, in checking the multiplication of the worms and insects 
which prey upon the crops ; and doubtless were he able to 
argue the question he would contend that helping the farmer 
to produce his harvest he has a right to a share in it. 
It is only when the rook in his turn gets too numerous that 
he needs a similar check. 

The Carrion The Carrion Crow resembles the raven in ap- 
Crow. pearance, but is about one third smaller in size. 
It lives in pairs and is said to be a model of conjugal fidelity 
and parental care. Omnivorous in habit it appropriates all 
kinds of food : insects, grain, eggs, fruit, nuts, mice, ducklings 
and chickens, as well as such dead meat as may offer oppor- 



THE ROOK— THE CROW. 271 

tunity. Captain Brown quoting from a Scotch newspaper tells 
of a crow which made an attempt to carry off one of a 
brood of fourteen chickens, but which on being disturbed, 
dropped its prey and made its escape, returning some time 
after with thirteen other crows and carrying off the whole 
brood. 

The Jackdaw. The Jackdaw, measures about fourteen inches, 
and is thus the smallest of the birds of its kind. It builds 
in old ruins, church towers, and rocky eminences, in which 
particular it differs from the rooks and the crows, who select 
the topmost branches of trees for this purpose. Like its near 
relatives with whom we have been dealing, it is thievish and 
secretive in its habits, showing a preference, in its appropriations, 
for bright objects such as silver spoons and gold rings. These 
habits and their terrible consequences have been immortalized 
by the history and fate of the "Jackdaw of Rheims." 

The Chough. The Chough frequents the western sea coasts 
of England, the north, south, and west of Ireland and the 
Isle of Man, and the borders of the snow line or Alpine 
ranges on the continent of Europe. It nests in the cavities 
of high cliffs and attains a length of seventeen inches; its 
beak and legs are of a brilliant red. When tamed it shows 
the same qualities of curiosity and secretiveness which char- 
acterise the other birds of its kind. 

The The Bird of Paradise is one of the most beautiful 

Bird of of living birds. Mr. Wallace thus describes the 

Para lse. p ara di sea apoda which is the largest species 
known : " The body, wings, and tail are of a rich coffee 
brown, which deepens on the breast to a blackish-violet or 
purple brown. The whole top of the head and neck is of 
an exceedingly delicate straw-yellow, the feathers being short 
and close set, so as to resemble plush or velvet; the lower 
part of the throat up to the eye is clothed with scaly 
feathers of an emerald green colour, and with a rich metallic 
sloss, and velvety plumes of a still deeper green, extend in 



272 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

a band across the forehead and chin as far as the eye, 
which is bright yellow. The beak is pale lead blue, and the 
feet which are rather large and very strong and well formed, 
are a pale ashy pink. The two middle feathers of the tail 
have no webs, except a very small one at the base and at 
the extreme tip, forming wire-like cirri, which spread out 
in an elegant double curve, and vary from twenty-four to 
thirty-four inches long. From each side of the body beneath 
the wings, springs a dense tuft of long and delicate plumes, 
sometimes two feet in length, of the most intense golden 
orange colour, and very glossy, but changing towards the tips 
into a pale brown. This tuft of plumage can be elevated 
and spread out at pleasure so as almost to conceal the body 
of the bird. These splendid ornaments are entirely confined 
to the male sex; the female is a very plain and ordinary 
looking bird. The male is generally seventeen or eighteen 
inches from the beak to the tip of the tail." 
Hunting the * n catcnm g the Bird of Paradise, the natives 
Bird of take advantage of the apparent vanity of their 
Paradise. victims. " In May when they are in full 
plumage," says Mr. Wallace, " the males assemble early in the 
morning to exhibit themselves in a most singular manner. 
This habit enables the natives to obtain specimens with 
comparative ease. As soon as they find that the birds have 
fixed upon a tree upon which to assemble, they build a 
little shelter of palm leaves in a convenient place among the 
branches, and the hunter ensconces himself in it before 
daylight, armed with his bow and a number of arrows ter- 
minating in a round nob. A boy waits at the foot of the tree, 
and when the birds come at sunrise, and a sufficient num- 
ber have assembled, and have begun to dance, the hunter 
shoots with his blunt arrow so strongly as to stun the bird, 
which drops down, and is secured and killed by the boy, 
without its plumage being injured by a drop of blood. The 
rest take no notice, and fall one after another till some of 



THE SWALLOW. 273 

them take the alarm." The Bird of Paradise is found in 
New Guinea and the Papuan Islands. 

The Following Mr. Wallace's order we come now 

Tanagers. to the second class of the perching birds, the 
Tanagroid perchers, with the more important species of 
which we will now proceed to deal. 

The Tanagers are found in America and the West 

Tanager. Indian Islands. Wilson, the American ornitholo- 
gist, describing the scarlet Tanager, says : " Among all other 
birds that inhabit our woods, there is none that strikes the 
eye of the stranger or even a native with so much brilliancy 
as this. Seen among the green leaves, with the light falling 
strongly on his plumage, he really appears beautiful. If he 
has little melody in his notes to charm us, he has nothing 
in them to disgust. His manners are modest, easy and in- 
offensive ; he commits no depredations on the property of the 
husbandman, but rather benefits him by the daily destruction 
in spring of many noxious insects; and when winter ap- 
proaches he is no plundering dependant, but seeks in a distant 
country for that sustenance which the severity of the season 
denies to his industry in this. He is a striking ornament to 
our rural scenery and none of the meanest of our rural song- 
sters. " Its body is scarlet and its wings and tail are black. 
One species of the Tanager is known as the Organist Tanager 
from the richness of its tones. 

The Swallow. Though only a summer friend the swallow is 
among the most popular of birds in England. It arrives 
in April and is always sure of a hearty welcome, and when 
it leaves in September for its long journey across the sea no 
one would withhold from it a " God speed ". The swallow 
builds under the eaves of houses, always selecting dry and 
sheltered spots. Its flight is very rapid, and is a pretty sight 
to watch as it skims over the surface of the water, sometimes 
striking it with its wings as it darts hither and thither, snapping 
at the flies and insects which come within its reach. The 

18 



274 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

marvellous flights of these birds when they migrate are among 
the many wonderful things of nature. Humboldt states that 
he saw a swallow alight on the rigging of his vessel when it 
was one hundred and twenty miles from land. How such 
tiny creatures can sustain such extended flights it is difficult 
to understand. 

Swallows in Swallows seem to understand the principle of 
Council, co-operation and what the family is unable to 
do for itself the community seems always ready to undertake for 
it. Captain Brown tells of a pair of swallows who returning to 
their last year's nest found it occupied by a robust English 
sparrow. The sparrow declined to give up the nest and the 
swallows were not strong enough to eject it, whereupon a 
council was called, as a result of which a large army of swallows 
proceeded to close up the entrance to the nest with clay, 
"leaving the sparrow to perish in the garrison it had so 
gallantly defended. " This happened at Strathendry, Bleachfield, 
in Fifeshire, on the banks of the Leven, and was witnessed 
by Mr. Gavan Inglis. But not only do the swallows co- 
operate for the purposes of war; Mr. Inglis was a witness 
of another effort of combination. It happened that a pair 
of swallows had built a nest in the corner of one. of his windows, 
in which they had hatched five offspring. The parent birds fell 
victims to a sportsman's gun and Mr. Inglis contemplated an 
attempt to rear the family himself. This, however, proved 
unnecessary. In a very short time a number of swallows 
came and inspected the bereaved dwelling, apparently noting 
the condition of the house as well as the brood. A supply 
of food was immediately brought, and the next morning the 
kindly offices were renewed and thenceforward continued 
until the young were able to provide for themselves. Remark- 
able as these incidents are they are not singular, for both 
have been known to occur more than once. 

The House The House Martin is characterized by a white 
Martin. S p t above his tail which adds to the prettiness 



THE FINCHES. 275 

of his appearance in flight. The summer residence of this 
agreeable bird is universally among the habitations of man, 
who, having no interest in its destruction, and deriving 
considerable advantage as well as amusement from its 
company, is generally its friend and protector. 

The Martin inhabits America as well as Europe, and is a 
particular favourite wherever it takes up his abode. " I never 
knew but one man," says Wilson, " who disliked the Martins, 
and would not permit them to settle about his house: this 
was a penurious, close-fisted German, who hated them, be- 
cause, as he said, 'they eat his peas' I told him he cer- 
tainly must be mistaken, as I never knew an instance of 
Martins eating peas; but he replied with coolness, 'that he had 
many times seen them himself blaying near the hive, and going 
schnip schnap? by which I understood that it was his bees that 
were the sufferers; and the charge could not be denied." 
The Sand The Sand Martin is the smallest of the British 
Martin, swallows and it is the first to arrive. It bores 
horizontal holes two or three feet, deep into the sides of 
sand-pits, at the end of which it builds its nest of grass 
and feathers. 
The Chaffinch ^he Finches are beautiful and interesting 
The Goldfinch, birds. The Chaffinch is famous for the vivacity 
The Greenfinch. of its song and the beauty of its nest. a The 

forks of a thorn, or wild crab tree," says Mr. Wood, "are 
favourite places for the nest, which is composed of mosses, 
hair, wool and feathers, covered on the exterior with lichens 
and mosses so exactly resembling the bough on which the 
nest is placed that the eye is often deceived by its appear- 
ance." The Goldfinch is a favourite pet, and is capable of 
being trained to perform tricks. It has been called the 
Thistiefinch from its use of the down of the thistle in the 
construction of its nest. It is bright of appearance, cheery 
of song, and affectionate of disposition. The Greenfinch has 
a coat of rich olive green, and a waistcoat of greyish-yellow. 



276 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Linnet. The Linnet is a homely looking little brown 
bird with a sweet melodious voice. It frequents commons 
and waste lands, where it builds its nest under the cover 
of friendly furze bushes, or nearer the habitations of man, in 
thick-set hedges. The Linnet is the natural laureate of the 
English cottage home. 

The The Canary, as its name implies, comes from 

Canary. the Canary Islands, but it has been so crossed 
in breeding that it differs very considerably from its original 
ancestors. Buff on says: — " If the nightingale is the chauntress 
of the woods, the canary is the musician of the chamber; 
the first owes all to nature, the second something to art. 
With less strength of organ, less compass of voice, and less 
variety of note, the canary has a better ear, greater facility 
of imitation, and a more retentive memory ; and as the 
difference of genius, especially among the lower animals, 
depends in a great measure on the perfection of their senses, 
the canary, whose organ of hearing is more susceptible of 
receiving foreign impressions, becomes more social, tame, and 
familiar; is capable of gratitude and even attachment; its 
caresses are endearing, its little humours innocent, and its 
anger neither hurts nor offends. Its education is easy; we 
hear it with pleasure, because we are able to instruct it. It 
leaves the melody of its own natural note, to listen to the 
melody of our voices and instruments. It applauds, it 
accompanies us, and repays the pleasure it receives with 
interest; while the nightingale, more proud of its talent, seems 
desirous of preserving it in all its purity, at least it appears 
to attach very little value to ours and it is with great diffi- 
culty it can be taught any of our airs. The canary can speak 
and whistle; the nightingale despises our words, as well as 
our airs, and never fails to return to its own wild-wood 
notes. Its pipe is a masterpiece of nature, which human 
art can neither alter nor improve ; while that of the canary 
is a model of more pliant materials, which we can mould 



THE CANARY. 277 

at pleasure; and therefore it contributes in a much greater 
degree to the comforts of society. It sings at all seasons, 
cheers us in the dullest weather, and adds to our happiness, 
by amusing the young, and delighting the recluse, charming 
the tediousness of the cloister, and gladdening the soul of 
the innocent and captive." 
The Tame The canary is easily tamed, and has been taught 
Canary. to perform many little tricks, indeed groups of 
them have been trained to act little plays, firing cannons and 
driving coaches. The canary shows a humane disposition, 
has been known to foster the young of other birds, to make 
friends with other pets, even cats ; to show great affection for 
its master and to die of grief on the loss of its mate. Dr. 
Darwin tells of " a canary bird which always fainted away 
when its cage was cleaned. Having desired to see the 
experiment," says Dr. Darwin, "the cage was taken from the 
ceiling, and the bottom drawn out. The bird began to tremble, 
and turned quite white about the root of the bill ; he then 
opened his mouth as if for breath, and respired quickly ; 
stood up straighter on his perch, hung his wing, spread his 
tail, closed his eyes, and appeared quite stiff for half an hour, 
till at length, with trembling and deep respirations, he came 
gradually to himself." 

The The Crossbill must be mentioned for the sake 

Crossbill. f the peculiarity indicated by its name. The 
points of the beak instead of being straight and meeting in 
a common point, "curve to the right and left and always in 
opposite directions." They therefore cross each other and 
present a unique appearance. It is found in the North of 
Europe, and in the great pine forests of Germany. 

The There are several kinds of Bunting ; the Eng- 

Bunting. i^h Bunting common to wayside hedges, and 

familiar from its habit of flitting in front of the traveller, and 

the Snow Bunting of the northern regions, which turns white 

on the approach of snow. 



278 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The We come now to the third division of the 

Starlings. Passeres or perching birds, to which Mr. Wallace 

attaches the name of the starlings. " The starlings or Sturni- 

dce" says Dr. Percival Wright, "are a well marked old-world 

group. No species of the family are found in Australia." 

T]ie The Common Starling is a bird of passage, 

Common arriving in England about the beginning of March 

ar mg. an j j eavm g some time in October. Knapp says : — 
"There is something singularly curious and mysterious in 
the conduct of these birds previously to their nightly retire- 
ment, by the variety and intricacy of the evolutions they 
execute at that time. They will form themselves, perhaps, 
into a triangle, then shoot into a long, pear-shaped figure, 
expand like a sheet, wheel into a ball, as Pliny observes, 
each individual striving to get into the centre, etc., with a 
promptitude more like parade movements than the actions of 
birds. As the breeding season advances, these prodigious 
flights divide, and finally separate into pairs, and form their 
summer settlements." The Starling is a handsome bird and 
usually nests in old buildings, though it has a preference for 
a dove-cote if it can gain admission. It is a peaceable 
bird and for all its military evolutions does not seem to war 
with other species. Its domestic character is also good. 
The Weaver The Weaver birds which are included in this 
Bird. division, are a very interesting species. They 
belong to Africa, where they hang their nests upon trees, 
those of the sociable weaver birds giving the trees the 
appearance of paitially thatched wall-less structures. Le Vaillant 
thus describes his experience of the sociable weaver bird : he 
says: — "I observed, on the way, a tree with an enormous nest 
of these birds, to which I have given the appellation of 
republicans; and as soon as I arrived at my camp, I dis- 
patched a few men with a wagon to bring it to me, that 
I might open the hive and examine its structure in its minutest 
parts. When it arrived, I cut it to pieces with a hatchet 



THE LARK. 279 

and saw that the chief portion of the structure consisted of 
a mass of Buckmans grass, without any mixture, but so 
compactly and firmly basketed together, as to be impenetrable 
to the rain. This is the commencement of the structure ; 
and each bird builds its particular nest under this canopy, 
the upper surface remaining void without, however, being 
useless ; for, as it has a projecting rim and is a little inclined, 
it serves to let the rain water run off and preserve each little 
dwelling from the rain. Figure to yourself a huge, irregular, 
sloping roof, all the eaves of which are completely covered 
with nests crowded one against another, and you will have 
a tolerably accurate idea of these singular edifices. Each 
individual nest is three or four inches in diameter, which is 
sufficient for the bird. But as they are all in contact with 
one another around the eaves, they appear to the eye to 
form one building and are distinguishable from each other 
only by a little external aperture which serves as an entrance 
to the nest; and even this is sometimes common to three 
different nests, one of which is situated at the bottom and the 
other two at the sides." One of these structures examined 
by Patterson contained three hundred and twenty inhabited 
cells. 

The Lark. The skylark is common all over Europe and is 
an especial favourite in the British Isles. It builds its nest 
on the ground among growing com or high grass, and shows 
especial care for its young. Its song is perhaps the most 
joyous and inspiriting of those of English birds. Captain 
Brown quotes the following interesting particulars of its song 
from a communication made by Mr. J. Main to the " Magazine 
of Natural History:" "His joyous matins and heavenward 
flight have been aptly compared to hymns and acts of adoration 
and praise. No bird sings with more method: there is an 
overture performed vivace crescendo, while the singer ascends ; 
when at the full height, the song becomes moderato, and 
distinctly divided into short passages, each repeated three or 



280 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

four times over, like a fantasia, in the same key and time. 
If there be any wind, he rises perpendicularly by bounds, 
and afterwards poises himself with breast opposed to it. If 
calm, he ascends in spiral circles ; in horizontal circles during 
the principal part of his song, and zigzagly downwards during 
the performance of the finale. Sometimes, after descending 
about half way, he ceases to sing, and drops with the velocity 
of an arrow to the ground. Those acquainted with the song 
of the skylark can tell without looking at them whether the 
birds be ascending or stationary in the air, or on their 
descent; so different is the style of the song in each case. 
In the first, there is an expression of ardent impatience; in 
the second, an andante composure, in which rests of a bar 
at a time frequently occur; and in the last, a graduated 
sinking of the strains." 

Mrs. Bowdich quoting from "The Naturalist" 
Maternal gives the following pretty story of the maternal 
Instinct of instinct of the Lark : — " The other day, some 
mowers shaved off the upper part of the nest of 
a skylark, without injuring the female, who was sitting on 
her young: still she did not fly away; and the mowers 
levelled the grass all round her, without her taking any notice 
of their proceedings. The son of the owner of the crop 
witnessed this, and, about an hour afterwards, went to see 
if she were safe; when, to his great surprise, he found that 
she had actually constructed a dome of dry grass over the 
nest during the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for 
ingress and egress; thus endeavouring to secure a continuance 
of the shelter previously supplied by the long grass." Buffon 
tells a remarkable story of the self-sacrifice of a young lark 
who took upon itself the duties of a foster mother. He 
says : — " A young hen bird was brought to me in the month 
of May, which was not able to feed without assistance. I 
caused her to be educated, and she was hardly fledged when 
I received from another place a nest of three or four unfledged 



THE WAGTAILS AND THE PIPITS. 28 1 

skylarks. She took a strong liking to these new-comers, 
which were scarcely younger than herself; she tended them 
night and day, cherished them beneath her wings, and fed 
them with her bill. Nothing could interrupt her tender offices. 
If the young ones were torn from her, she flew to them as 
soon as she was liberated, and would not think of effecting 
her own escape, which she might have done a hundred times. 
Her affection grew upon her; she neglected food and drink; 
she now required the same support as her adopted offspring, 
and expired at last consumed with maternal anxiety. None 
of the young ones survived her. They died one after another; 
so essential were her cares, which were equally tender and 
judicious." 

The Lark The Lark when pursued by the Hawk has 
and the been known to seek refuge under the protection 
of man, as the following quoted by Captain Brown 
from Bell's " Weekly Messenger " will show. " On Wednesday, 
the 6th of October, 1805, as a gentleman was sitting on the 
rocks at the end of Collercot's sands, near Tynemouth, North- 
umberland, dressing himself after bathing, he perceived a 
hawk in the air, in close pursuit of, and nearly within reach 
of a lark. To save the little fugitive, he shouted and clapped 
his hands, when immediately the lark descended, and alighted 
on his knee, nor did it offer to leave him, when taken into 
the hand, but seemed confident of that protection, which it 
found. The hawk sailed about for some time. The gentleman, 
after taking the lark nearly to Tynemouth, restored it to its 
former liberty." 
The Wagtails The Wagtails, of which family the Pied Wag- 

and Pipits, tail is the most familiar, derives its name from 
its habit of wagging its tail. As Mr. Wood says > "it settles 
on the ground and wags its tail; it runs a few paces and 
wags its tail again; pecks an insect, and again its tail vibrates." 
It frequents sandbanks and the margins of rivers where it 
finds its food. It is found in England throughout the year, 



282 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

migrating to the southern counties in the early winter. The 
Pipits, of which "The Meadow Pipit" and the Tree Pipit 
are the best known varieties, are found all over the British 
Isles as well as in many parts of Europe. 

The Ant- The fourth division of the perching birds desig- 
Eaters. nated by Mr. Wallace, the Ant-Eaters, includes 
a large number of American varieties, which space forbids 
us even to enumerate. One or two must suffice. 

The King The King Bird or Tyrant Fly-catcher of North 
Bird. America is small, but of a fearless disposition, 
attacking hawks, crows, and other larger birds, and generally 
having the best of the battle. The upper part of its body 
is black and the lower of a delicate white. Its song is a 
shrill twittering "resembling the jingling of a bunch of keys." 
It belongs to the family of the Tyrant Shrikes or Tyrannidce. 
It is during the time of incubation that it shows so much 
ferocity. Wilson says, "I have seen the red-headed wood- 
pecker while clinging on a rail of the fence, amuse himself 
with the violence of the king bird, and play ' bo-peep' with 
him round the rail, while the latter, highly irritated, made 
every attempt, as he swept from side to side, to strike him, 
but in vain. All his turbulence subsides as soon as his young 
are able to shift for themselves, and he is then as mild and 
peaceable as any other bird." 

The The Chatterers, or Cotingidce include among 

Chatterers, them, the Cock of the Rock, one of the most 
beautiful of South-American birds. Resembling a pigeon in 
size, its head is sufficiently like that of the farm-yard cock 
to account for its name, which is also made to indicate the 
nature of its haunts. Its coat is a warm saffron yellow and 
its crest resembles a fan. Sir Robert Schomburgh says : 
"While traversing the Kikiritze mountains in Guiana, we 
saw a number of that most beautiful bird, the cock-of-the- 
rock, or Rock Manakin (yupicola elegans), and I had an op- 
portunity of witnessing an exhibition of some of its very 



CLIMBING BIRDS. 283 

singular antics, of which I had heard stories from the Indians, 
but had hitherto disbelieved them. Hearing the twittering 
noise so peculiar to the Rupicola, I cautiously stole near, with 
two of my guides, towards a spot secluded from the path 
from four to five feet in diameter, and which appeared to 
have been cleared of every blade of grass, and smoothed as 
by human hands. There we saw a cock-of-the-rock, capering 
to the apparent delight of several others, now spreading its 
wings, throwing up its head, or opening its tail like a fan ; 
now strutting about, and scratching the ground, all accom- 
panied by a hopping gait, until tired, when it gabbled some 
kind of note, and another relieved it. Thus three of them 
successively took the field, and then with self-approbation 
withdrew to rest on one of the low branches near the scene 
of action. We had counted ten cocks and two hens of the 
party, when the crackling of some wood, on which I had 
unfortunately placed my foot, alarmed and dispersed this 
dancing party." The Bell Bird of Brazil; the Umbrella Bird 
of the Amazons, the Broadbills, the Plant cutters, the Oven 
bird, and the Ant-Thrushes are all included in this group. 
The Lyre The Lyre Bird, which according to the classifi- 
Bird. cation we are following, with the scrub bird, 
forms the fifth group of the perching birds, belongs to Australia. 
The Lyre Bird has been so often depicted in illustrations that 
its form is familiar to most people. The tail of the male 
bird which is composed of three different kinds of feathers 
so beautifully resembles the Lyre that there could be no 
hesitation in giving the bird its name. Since its discovery this 
bird has been so hunted as to considerably reduce its num- 
bers, and the tail feathers which at one time could be pur- 
chased at a low price, have become rare and costly. 
ORDER II ^is order includes some widely different spe- 
Climbers and cies and is made up of Scansores, Climbers and 
Gapers. Fissirostres, Gapers. A few of the better known 
species are all that we can mention. 



284 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

The Wood- The green Woodpecker is the variety best 
pecker. known in England, where it inhabits the woods 
and feeds upon the insects it finds in the bark of trees. 
Audubon writing of the "Ivory-billed" variety says: — "The 
birds pay great regard to the particular situation of the tree, 
and the inclination of its trunk; first, because they prefer 
retirement, and again, because they are anxious to secure the 
aperture against the access of water during beating rains. To 
prevent such a calamity the hole is generally dug immediately 
under the junction of a large branch with the trunk. It is 
first bored horizontally for a few inches, then directly down- 
wards, and not in a spiral manner as some people have 
imagined. According to circumstances, this cavity is more or 
less deep, being sometimes more than ten inches, whilst at 
other times it reaches three feet downwards into the core of 
the tree. The average diameter of the different nests which 
I have examined was about seven inches within, although 
the entrance, which is perfectly round, is only just large 
enough to admit the bird." Wilson declares that during the 
excavation of its nest, which occupies several days, the wood- 
pecker will often carry the chips and strew them at a distance 
to divert suspicion. Audubon describing the Red-headed 
Woodpecker says : — " With the exception of the mocking 
bird, I know no species so gay and frolicsome. Their whole 
life is one of pleasure." 

The This bird which was known to the Greeks, and 

Wryneck, described by Aristotle, forms with its allied species 
a connecting link between the Woodpecker and the Cuckoo. 
It feeds on caterpillars and insects which it catches with its 
long sticky tongue, with such rapidity of movement that the 
eye cannot follow it. 

The Cuckoo. The Cuckoo is always welcomed in England 
as the harbinger of Spring. Its cry is one of the most easily 
distinguished of bird songs, and is the nearest approach to 
a definite musical interval produced by any bird. The habit 



THE CUCKOO. 285 

of the cuckoo of laying its eggs in the nests of other birds, 
has given rise to much speculation, ancient and modern, and 
now, though the fact remains, a sufficiently satisfactory 
reason seems as remote as ever. The nest of the Hedge- 
sparrow seems to be the one most often selected, though that 
of the wagtail is sometimes chosen. The consequences to 
the young of the native bird, are somewhat serious as the 
following will show. 

The Cuckoo ^ r * J enner > tne discoverer of vaccination 
and the says : — "On the 18th of June, 1787, I exam- 
Hedge- Sparrow. j ne( j t h e nest f a hedge-sparrow {Accentor 

modidaris), which then contained a cuckoo and three hedge- 
sparrows' eggs. On inspecting it the day following, the bird 
had hatched ; but the nest then contained only a young 
cuckoo and one hedge-sparrow. The nest was placed so near 
the extremity of a hedge, that I could distinctly see what was 
going forward in it; and, to my great astonishment, I saw 
the young cuckoo, though so lately hatched, in the act of 
turning out the young hedge-sparrow. The mode of accom- 
plishing this was very curious ; the little animal, with the 
assistance of its rump and wings, contrived to get the bird 
upon its back, and making a lodgment for its burthen by 
elevating its elbows, clambered backwards with it up the side 
of the nest till it reached the top, where, resting for a moment, 
it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from 
the nest. It remained in this situation for a short time, 
feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to be 
convinced whether the business was properly executed, and 
then dropped into the nest again. I afterwards put in an 
egg, and this, by a similar process, was conveyed to the edge 
of the nest and thrown out. These experiments I have since 
repeated several times, in different nests, and have always 
found the young cuckoo disposed to act in the same manner. 
" It sometimes happens that two cuckoos' eggs are deposited 
in the same nest, and then the young produced from one of 



286 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

them must inevitably perish. Two cuckoos and one hedge- 
sparrow were hatched in the same nest, and one hedge- 
sparrow's egg remained unhatched. In a few hours afterwards 
a contest began between the cuckoos for the possession of the 
nest, which continued undetermined till the next afternoon, 
when one of them, which was somewhat superior in size, 
turned out the other, together with the young hedge-sparrow 
and the unhatched egg. The combatants alternately appeared 
to have the advantage, as each carried the other several times 
to the top of the nest, and then sunk down again, oppressed 
by the weight of the burthen ; till at length, after various 
efforts, the strongest prevailed, and was afterwards brought 
up by the hedge-sparrow." Jenner's experiences have been 
corroborated by repeated experiments since. Colonel Montague 
carried a hedge-sparrow's nest, so inhabited, into his house 
where he could watch it at leisure and where he saw the 
young cuckoo frequently oust the baby hedge-sparrow in 
the manner described. The cuckoo feeds on caterpillars, and 
insects. It may be tamed, but as a rule does not live long 
in confinement. Its note is heard from April to June. 

That the cuckoo is scarcely an amiable bird 

Cuckoo would appear from the following incident recorded 

and the by Dr. Stanley : " A young thrush, just able to 

feed itself, was placed in a cage. A short time 

after, a young cuckoo, which could not feed itself, was placed 

in the same cage, and fed by the owner. At length it was 

observed that the thrush fed it; the cuckoo opening its 

mouth, and sitting on the upper perch, and making the thrush 

hop down to fetch its food. One day, while thus expecting 

its supply, a worm was put into the cage, and the thrush 

could not resist the temptation of eating it, upon which the 

cuckoo descended, attacked the thrush with fury, and literally 

tore out one of its eyes, and then hopped back. Although 

so lacerated, the poor thrush meekly took up some food, and 

continued to do so till the cuckoo was full grown. " 



THE KINGFISHER. 287 

The The Trogons are among the most gorgeous of 

Trogons. living birds ; the brilliance of their plumage defy- 
ing verbal description. Their main colour is " a metallic golden 
green, boldly contrasted with scarlet, black, and brown. " 
" The Resplendent Trogon," says Mr. Wood, "is the most gor- 
geous of all this gorgeous family. Its long and gracefully 
curved tail is nearly three feet long, and the whole of the 
upper surface, and the throat, are a glowing green ; the breast 
and under parts are bright crimson; the middle feathers of 
the tail black, and the outer feathers white. " These birds 
are natives of Mexico. 

The The Kingfishers are a wide-spread family, being 

Kingfisher, found all over the world. There are numerous 
varieties, of which the Common Kingfisher and the Laughing 
Kingfisher are all that we can notice. The Common King- 
fisher is indigenous in England where it usually lives on the 
banks of rivers and streams, feeding upon fish and insects. 
It makes burrows or holes in the banks, where it lays its eggs 
and rears its young; fishing from the low branches of trees 
which overspread the water. When the fish is caught it is 
beaten to death against some hard substance and then 
swallowed whole, head foremost. The Common Kingfisher 
is somewhat larger than the lark, and has a beautiful metallic 
coat which shimmers with a very pleasing effect as it darts 
among the greenery of the river bank or flies along the 
surface of the water. The Laughing Kingfisher belongs to 
Australia and is so named from its peculiar cry. It is one of 
the largest species of its kind. Other species belong to the 
Moluccas and New Guinea, and a few to America. 

The The Hornbill is famous for the size and shape 

Hornbill. f it s fo^ which is very large. There are several 
varieties, African and Indian. They live mostly on fruit, 
though some are said to eat reptiles. They have some very 
curious habits. Mr. Wallace describes the habit of the male 
Hornbill of shutting up the female during the period of 



288 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

incubation and feeding her through a small hole left open for 
the purpose. 
The Goat- The goat-sucker is so called from the belief 
Suckers. \ on g entertained that it was in the habit of sucking 
the teat of the goat. There are several varieties and they are 
remarkable for the strangeness of their cries. The Goat-sucker 
has sometimes been called the Night-jar from its discordant 
note, it is also known as the Fern Owl. Mr. Wood says: — " It 
may be seen at the approach of evening silently wheeling 
round the trees, capturing the nocturnal moths and beetles; 
then occasionally settling and uttering its jarring cry. When 
flying the bird sometimes makes its wings meet over its back, 
and brings them together with a smart snap. It arrives in 
England in the beginning of May and leaves in December. 
The Whip-poor-will and the Chuck-will's-widow both belong 
to this family." 
The Whip- The Whip -poor- will, which is peculiar to America, 
poor-Will. i s celebrated for its singular melody, which is 
heard in spring to issue at night from the woods and glens 
of all parts of the country. It is a rapid warbling repetition 
of the name given to the bird, and is so distinctly pronounced, 
as to seem like the voice of a human being. It is a solitary 
bird, remaining silent and sequestered during the day, but at 
night it often approaches a dwelling, and pours forth its 
song upon the door-step, or a neighbouring tree. 
Chuck- WiU's- This bird, also peculiar to America, is about 
"Widow. a f 00 t i n length, resembling in colour, form, and 
habits, the whip-poor-will. It is a solitary bird, frequenting 
glens and hollows, and seldom making its appearance during 
the day. Its song, which is uttered, like that of the whip- 
poor-will, at night, is a constant repetition of the sound, 
chuck- will's- widow, very distinctly articulated. It is common 
in Georgia, and is regarded by the Creek Indians with super- 
stitious awe. It is very seldom seen in the Middle or Eastern 
States ; "but I recollect once," says an American writer, " to have 



THE SWIFT— THE HUMMING BIRD. 289 

known a whole village in New England in terror and amaze- 
ment at hearing one of them singing its strange song on 
the edge of a swamp. The superstitious part of the inhabitants 
considered it a prediction of some evil that was to befall a 
widow of the parish ; but there was a diversity of opinion as 
to who the hapless Chuck- will's-widow might be." 

The The Swift, so called from the remarkable speed 

Swift. f hi s flight, is also known as "Jack screamer" 
from the shrillness of his voice. He winters in Africa and 
arrives in England about May, remaining until about the 
middle of August. He builds his nest under the eaves of 
houses and frequents steeples and other lofty edifices, 
forming his nest of grasses and feathers. The esculent swift, 
so called from the fact that its nests are edible, builds at 
the sides of almost inaccessible cliffs, a habit which renders 
the collection of these singular dainties very dangerous. The 
nests aie formed of mucilaginous sea- weeds and have the 
appearance of isinglass. They are considered great delicacies 
in China, where they are found. They abound in Java. The 
swifts resemble the swallows in several particulars and have 
often been classed with them, there are, however, important 
differences which separate them. 
The Humming There are hundreds of kinds of Humming Birds, 

Bird. nearly all of them natives of America, where 
they frequent the gardens, and sip the honey from the 
honeysuckle and other plants, like the hive and humble bee. 
The humming bird is several times larger than the latter, but flies 
so swiftly as almost to elude the sight. Its wings, when it is 
balancing over the flower, produce a humming sound, from which 
it takes its name. It is the smallest of the feathered race, and 
is one of the most beautiful in the elegance of its form, and 
the glossy brilliancy of its delicate plumage. Small as it is, 
however, it is exceedingly courageous, and has violent passions. 
The length of this bird is three inches; it lives partly on 
honey obtained from flowers, but devours also great quan- 

IQ 



290 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

tities of very small insects. The general colour is a rich 
golden green on the upper parts; the breast and neck are 
of a dusky white. Its nest is very small, and is elegantly 
lined with the down of the mullein. It is covered on the 
outside with moss, to imitate the colour of the limb on which 
it is built. 

ORDER III. The parrots never fail to interest, on account 
The Parrots, of their beauty of form and colour, and their 
aptitude for imitating common sounds. There are some hundreds 
of species, belonging to different parts of the world, the 
Cockatoos to Australia, the Macaws to America, and many 
varieties to Africa. The Macaws and some other kinds 
are among the most gorgeous of living birds and whether 
seen in their native wilds or in the aviaries of civilisation 
never fail to excite admiration. The Cockatoo is distinguished 
from the true parrot by its crest ; other species are differentiated 
by habit, size, colour, and form. The better known of these 
are, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, the Ground parrot, the 
Macaw, the Grey parrot, the Green parrot, the Parrakeets 
and the Love-birds. 

The Parrot's Many stories are told of the remarkable powers 
Intelligence. f individual parrots and the singular appropri- 
ateness of their remarks on particular occasions. These are 
often so startling as to arouse suspicion of their authenticity, 
and yet a moment's reflection will show that coincidence 
plays a large part in these demonstrations, and that many of 
the most astonishing examples of felicitous interjection, or 
repartee, are due to this, and not to any special gift of 
intelligence on the part of the bird. An ordinary parrot with 
half a dozen phrases which it is constantly repeating, will in 
the nature of things, often use them in singularly felicitous 
connection with current conversation. No notice is taken of 
the many instances in which the phrase is inappropriate and 
yet a few cases of remarkable fitness are held to demonstrate 
extraordinary intelligence. Teach a parrot such a simple 



THE PARROTS. 2QI 

rejoinder as " not I ! " and the bird using it in answer to all 
sorts of questions, will often use it with apparent intelligence, 
but a doll might be made to show equal wit. That parrots 
are taught to give certain answers to certain questions is of 
course true, but in these cases the questions suggest the answers 
and all the intelligence is shown by the interrogator. Those 
birds which have lived many years and acquired many phrases, 
will naturally, from the extent of their repertoire, the more often 
surprise their hearers; but that they show any greater intelli- 
gence may perhaps be doubted. That some of the parrots, 
and especially the Love-birds, show great feeling for each 
other and attachment to their owners is well known, but the 
claim sometimes made that they show greater intelligence 
than any other birds may be very safely disputed. The term 
"parrot-like," as applied to the repetition of lessons by rote 
which are not understood by those repeating them, involves 
no injustice to the parrot. 

Famous There have been many famous parrots who 
Parrots, have played their part in history if they have 
not rivalled the geese that saved Rome. The Emperor Basilius 
Macedo was induced by a Parrot, who cast a gloom over 
the guests at a banquet by continually calling out, "Alas, 
alas ! poor Prince Leo ", to liberate his son whom he had 
confined on suspicion of treason. The Emperor observed the 
gloom of his guests and urged them to the pleasures of the 
table, when one of them is said to have responded, " How 
should we eat, Sire, when we are thus reproached by this 
bird of our want of duty to your family ? The brute animal 
is mindful of its Lord; and we that have reason, have neg- 
lected to supplicate your Majesty in behalf of the prince, whom 
we all believe to be innocent, and to suffer under calumny." 
Whether the bird had been purposely taught this phrase, or 
had merely acquired it by hearing its frequent repetition does 
not appear. The following memorial which appeared in the 
London papers in October 1822 is quoted from the "Percy 



2Q2 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Anecdotes." "A few days ago, died, in Half Moon Street, 
Piccadilly, the celebrated parrot of Colonel O'Kelly. This 
singular bird sang a number of songs in perfect time and 
tune. She could express her wants articulately, and give her 
orders in a manner nearly approaching to rationality. Her 
age was not known; it was, however, more than thirty years, 
for previous to that period, Colonel O'Kelly bought her at 
Bristol for one hundred guineas. The Colonel was repeatedly 
offered five hundred guineas a year for the bird, by persons 
who wished to make a public exhibition of her ; but this, out 
of tenderness to the favourite, he constantly refused. She 
could not only repeat a great number of sentences, but answer 
questions put to her. When singing, she beat time with all 
the appearance of science; and so accurate was her judgment 
that if by chance she mistook a note, she would revert to 
the bar where the mistake was made, correct herself, and still 
beating regular time, go through the whole with wonderful 
exactness." A Grey parrot is said to have been sold in 1500, 
for a hundred guineas, to a Lord High Cardinal at Rome, on 
account of its ability to repeat, without error, the Apostles' 
Creed. 
The Grey The Grey Parrot though less attractive in colour 
Parrot. than other species, is perhaps the most popular 
of the parrot family on account of its superior accomplishments 
as an imitator of familiar sounds. Mr. Jesse secured from 
a lady friend a description of the performances of a grey 
parrot which resided at Hampton Court, from which we 
quote the following: "Her laugh is quite extraordinary, and 
it is impossible not to help joining in it, more especially 
when in the midst of it she cries out, i Don't make me 
laugh so; I shall die, I shall die!' and then continues 
laughing more violently than before. Her crying and sob- 
bing are curious; and if you say, 'Poor Poll, what is the 
matter?' she says, 'So bad, so bad; got such a cold;' and 
after crying some time, will gradually cease, and making 



THE GREY PARROT. 293 

a noise like drawing a long breath, say, * Better now/ and 
begins to laugh." "If any one happens to cough or sneeze, 
she says, 'what a bad cold.' She calls the cat very plainly, 
saving, 'puss, puss,' and then answers 'mew'; but the most 
amusing part is, that whenever I want to make her call it, 
and to that purpose say, 'puss, puss', myself she always 
answers, 'mew', till I begin mewing; and then she begins 
calling 'puss', as quickly as possible. She imitates every kind 
of noise, and barks so naturally, that I have known her to 
set all the dogs on the parade of Hampton Court barking, 
and the consternation I have seen her cause in a party of 
cocks and hens, by her crowing and chuckling, has been the 
most ludicrous thing possible. She sings just like a child and 
I have more than once thought it was a human being; and 
it is most ludicrous to hear her make what one would call 
a false note and then say, ' oh la!' and burst out laughing 
at herself, beginning again in quite another key. She is very 
fond of singing ' Buy a Broom ', which she says quite plainly, 
but if we say, with a view to make her repeat it, 'Buy a 
Broom', she always** says 'Buy a Brnsh\ and then laughs as 
a child might do when mischievous. She often performs a 
kind of exercise which I do not know how to describe, 
except by saying that it is like the lance exercise. She puts 
her claw behind her, first on one side and then on the other, 
then in front, and round over her head ; and whilst doing so, 
keeps saving, 'Come on, come on!' and when finished she 
says 'Bravo, beautiful,' and draws herself up." 

Parrot To deny the parrot the understanding of what 
Talk. it sa y S) i s to relieve it of the responsibility of 
using bad language, and offering unsound advice, and this 
it surely needs. A gentleman who was in the habit of 
kissing his parrot and then kissing his wife, before leaving 
home in the morning, taught the bird to say, on being kissed, 
"Now kiss the missus," with the result that most of the 
gentlemen visitors who took any notice of the parrot were 



294 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

recommended to salute the lady of the house. Another 
parrot whose cage occupied a window close to a fashionable 
church continually accosted the passers-by, by calling out 
"That's right! Go to church, keep up appearances." Such 
remarks must often be very embarrassing, as must have 
been the words and actions of a parrot who frequently 
called out "Who kissed the pretty girl?" and then gave 
a perfect imitation of the sound of several kisses in suc- 
cession. Perhaps no more aggravating use w r as ever made 
of a parrot's powers than that witnessed by Buffon, who 
says, " I have seen a parrot very ridiculously employed, 
belonging to a distiller who had suffered pretty severely in 
his circumstances from an informer who lived opposite him. 
This bird was taught to pronounce the ninth commandment, 
— 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour/ with 
a very clear, loud, articulate voice. The bird was generally 
placed in a cage over against the informer's house, and delighted 
the whole neighbourhood with its persevering exhortations." 
ORDER IV. There are many varieties of pigeons, some 
Pigeons. being peculiar to certain districts, and others 
covering a much more extended geographical area. Mr. 
Darwin divides the British varieties into four groups: I. The 
English carrier ; the Runt, and the Barb. II. The Fantail ; 
the African owl ; the Short-faced Tumbler ; the Indian Frill- 
back; and the Jacobin. III. The English Pouter, and IV. The 
Dove-cote pigeon ; the Swallow ; the Spot ; the Nun ; the 
English Frill-back ; the Laugher, and the Trumpeter. The 
Passenger pigeon of America, the Nicobar pigeon of the 
Philippine Islands, the Great-crowned pigeon of New Guinea 
and the Hook-billed ground pigeon of Samoa are other im- 
portant species. 

Carrier In the " Percy Anecdotes " there is a brief history 

Pigeons. f the use of carrier pigeons, which we quote as 

follows : — "The first mention we find made of the employment 

of pigeons as letter carriers is by Ovid, in his 'Metamor- 



PIGEONS. 295 

piloses', who tells us that Taurosthenes, by a pigeon stained 
with purple, gave notice of his having been victor at the 
Olympic games on the very same day to his father at ^Egina. 
Pliny informs us that during the siege of Modena by Marc 
Antony, pigeons were employed by Brutus to keep up a cor- 
respondence with the besieged. When the city of Ptolemais, 
in Syria, was invested by the French and Venetians, and it 
was ready to fall into their hands, they observed a pigeon 
flying over them, and immediately conjectured that it was 
charged with letters to the garrison. On this, the whole army 
raising a loud shout, so confounded the poor aerial post that 
it fell to the ground, and on being seized, a letter was found 
under its wings, from the sultan, in which he assured the 
garrison that 'he would be with them in three days, with an 
army sufficient to raise the siege. ' For this letter the besiegers 
substituted another to this purpose, 'that the garrison must 
see to their own safety, for the sultan had such other affairs 
pressing him that it was impossible for him to come to their 
succour ; ' and with this false intelligence they let the pigeon 
free to pursue his course. The garrison, deprived by this 
decree of all hope of relief, immediately surrendered. The 
sultan appeared on the third day, as promised, with a power- 
ful army, and was not a little mortified to find the city already 
in the hands of the Christians. Carrier pigeons were again 
employed, but with better success, at the siege of Leyden, in 
1675. The garrison w r ere, by means of the information thus 
conveyed to them, induced to stand out, till the enemy, 
despairing of reducing the place, withdrew. On the siege 
being raised, the Prince of Orange ordered that the pigeons 
who had rendered such essential service should be maintained 
at the public expense, and that at their death they should be 
embalmed and preserved in the town house, as a perpetual 
token of gratitude." 
Pigeons on Pigeons are said to travel as fast as 2,200 yards 
the Wing. p er minute and to sustain flight for hundreds of 



296 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

miles at a stretch. The extraordinary manner in which they 
will find their way almost incredible distances has suggested 
all kinds of speculation as to the instinct or sense which 
guides them. A well known pigeon fancier, interviewed by a 
writer who published the results of the interview in " Chums " 
(Cassell & Co.) says, " The popular notion that carrier pigeons 
are guided by some 'direction sense/ or blind instinct, is 
quite as absurd as the French belief that they follow certain 
electrical currents. I have had to do with pigeons for over 
twenty years," he continued, "and I am open to demonstrate 
to anyone that in flight they are guided by sight alone. Of 
course, some pigeons are more sagacious, cleverer than others ; 
but the fact remains, and everything tends to prove it. For 
example, no carrier-pigeon can find its way over a strange 
country : it often gets lost in a fog ; and again, until taught 
by experience, it is often led astray by colours and objects 
which appear to be familiar. Quite recently, when I was 
trying some young birds, I had an instance of how easily 
they may be led astray. Close to my residence is a large 
red-brick building, which, to an old bird, would prove a good 
landmark miles away. In this case, however, the birds had 
not been tried before, although, of course, they had been let 
loose and had circled round the loft for several weeks. I 
took five birds with me some half-mile distant from home; 
and, letting them loose separately from the box, was rather 
surprised to see four out of the five, after circling round, 
fly off in an entirely opposite direction to that in which they 
should have gone. I soon solved the mystery, however, for, 
watching the birds, I saw they were making for another 
red-brick building, which showed up clearly in the sunlight. 
Arriving there, each one evidently discovered its mistake, 
and, after flying back to the starting-point, found their where- 
abouts, and made for home — not in a straight line, however, 
for young birds invariably take a crooked, tortuous path, as 
though feeling their way. If pigeons are let loose on water 



FOWLS. 297 

(from a boat in a lake or wide river), they always make for 
the nearest land first; then, circling round, widening their 
circle and rising higher at the same time, they keep the 
starting-point in view until they sight some familiar object, in 
which direction they travel. If a bird is dull, or 'stupid,' as 
we term it, and has been tried from various points of the 
compass, it often happens that, when taken to a distance 
(say thirty or forty miles), the time occupied in reaching the 
loft is three of four times longer than was expected; but, 
take it there next day, and the journey will be done quicker 
than a mile a minute. Why is that? Well, the birds get 
confused; some object which it may have seen on a former 
journey, may possibly stand out boldly; and, flying at once 
toward this, the bird may find itself just as far from finding 
the 'lay of the land.' Thus it may go from one familiar 
point to another before 'striking' for home. That is the 
reason why, in training a bird for a match, we take it only 
in the direction from which it will have to fly, increase the 
distance gradually, until the bird is familiar with the path 
it must travel and recognises each landmark as soon as it 
comes in sight." 
ORDER V. I n tms order (Gallin<z) the Grouse, the Ptar- 

Fowls. migan, the Quail, the Peacock, the Pheasant, the 
Jungle Fowl, the Guinea Fowl, and the Wild Turkey are 
included; as well as our Domestic Fowls to the forms of which 
they more or less closely approximate. The Black Grouse, 
and the Red Grouse are found throughout Great Britain ; the 
Prairie Grouse in North America. The Ptarmigan is found in 
Scotland and in the North of the continent of Europe; it 
changes colour with the seasons, becoming snow-white in winter. 
The Quail is found in many parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa ; it 
visits England in the early summer and leaves about October 
for Africa, where it winters. 

The The Peacock has been famous in the East from 

Peacock, before the days of Solomon and the Queen of 



298 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Sheba, and has been much affected in England in more 
recent years, on account of its beauty, as an adornment of 
English lawns, and as a royal dainty upon the festive board. 
It may be said still to keep its place as an ornament of the 
park, but it is no longer the choice of the epicure and seldom 
appears at the feast. It is said to have come originally from 
Persia and has doubtless reached the west from India where 
it still abounds. Colonel Williamson says that he has seen, 
in the passes of the Jungletery district, as many as twelve 
or fifteen hundred pea-fowls of various sizes within sight of 
one spot. "The gorgeous plumes that adorn the Peacock," 
says Mr. Wood, " do not compose the tail, as many suppose, 
but are only the tail- coverts. The tail feathers themselves are 
short and rigid, and serve to keep the train spread, as may 
be seen when the bird walks about in all the majesty of his 
expanded plumage. Although pea-fowl seek their food on 
the ground, they invariably roost on some elevated situation, 
such as a high branch, or the roof of a barn or haystack." 
The peacock is swift of foot, but heavy on the wing, and 
remains ordinarily on the ground, where it finds its food. It 
has a harsh voice. The peahen is a plain, homely looking 
bird, lacking the gorgeous tail which adorns her lord and 
master. Guillim, an old writer quoted by Captain Brown, says: 
" The Peacock is so proud, that when he erecteth his fan of 
plumes, he admireth himself. He display eth his plumes against 
the rays of the sun, that they may glister the more gloriously : 
and he loseth this beautiful train yearly with the fall of the 
leaf; at which time he becometh bashful, and seeketh corners, 
where he may be secret from the sight of men, until the spring of 
the year, when his train beginneth to be renewed. And such 
is the quality of many dames, who being painted and richly 
attired, cannot keep within doors; but being undressed, and 
in their own hue, they are loath any man should see them." 
The There are several varieties of the Pheasant, of 

Pheasant, which the Peacock Pheasant of Burmah, the 



THE PHEASANT— THE PARTRIDGE. 299 

Argus Pheasant of Malacca, the Golden Pheasant of China, 
and the Common Pheasant are the better known species. 
The Common Pheasant is a native of the British Isles, where 
it is cultivated and preserved. Under some circumstances 
the cock pheasant displays considerable pugnacity and a 
story is told of a young lady who when walking near Stirl- 
ing was attacked by one which, " with spurs and beak began 
a furious assault. Seeing no escape from the enraged bird, 
she seized her adversary, and carried him home. He was, 
however, soon released, and when the door was opened, he 
went out without any sign of fear, and, with a deliberate 
step, paced backwards and forwards in front of the house, 
and manifested an inclination to join the fowls in the poultry 
yard. The only way to account for this assault is, that the 
lady wore a scarlet mantle, to which the pheasant may have 
had such an antipathy as the turkey cock manifests to that 
colour; an antipathy evinced by many other birds, and 
various quadrupeds; and the cause of which is to us a 
mystery." 

The The partridge is an interesting bird and shows 

Partridge. g re at intelligence in the care of its young. Mr. 
Jesse mentions an instance quoted by Mr. Wood. "A gentle- 
man who was overlooking his ploughman, saw a partridge run 
from her nest, almost crushed by the horses' hoofs. Being 
certain that the next furrow must bury the eggs and nest, 
he watched for the return of the plough, when to his great 
astonishment, the nest, previously containing twenty-one eggs, 
was vacant. After a search, he found the bird sitting upon 
the eggs under a hedge, nearly forty yards from the nest, 
to which place she and her mate had removed the whole 
number in less than twenty minutes." Mr. Mark wick relates, 
that " as he was once hunting with a young pointer, the dog 
ran on a brood of very small partridges. The old bird 
cried, fluttered, and ran trembling along just before the dog's 
nose, till she had drawn him to a considerable distance; 



300 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

when she took wing and flew farther off, but not out of the 
field. On this the dog returned nearly to the place where 
the young ones lay concealed in the grass; which the old 
bird no sooner perceived, than she flew back again, settled 
just before the dog's nose, and a second time acted the 
same part, rolling and tumbling about till she drew off his 
attention from the brood, and thus succeeded in preserving 
them." 

The Wild The Wild Turkey was at one time common in 

Turkey. a u parts of America, but it is fast diminishing, 
and is now seldom found except in the western territories. 
It is often larger than the domestic turkey; it is gregarious 
and feeds on grain, seeds, and fruits. It is the original stock 
of the domestic turkey. Mr. Lucien Bonaparte has given a 
long and interesting account of this bird. He says they 
sometimes fly across broad rivers, ascending the tallest trees 
on one side, and the w r hole flock starting together. Some 
of the younger and weaker birds sometimes fall into the 
water and either paddle to the shore or are drowned. 
The Domestic The Wild Turkey was first carried to Europe 

Turkey. an( j other parts of the eastern continent and 
domesticated in the 16th century. It is now extensively 
diffused over the world, and its flesh is ranked among the 
most delicious poultry. The cock is a noisy fellow, strutting 
about, and displaying his plumage with great ostentation ; he 
is also very quarrelsome. The hen seems to possess a more 
modest and retiring disposition, wandering about the fields 
with a melancholy and dejected air, occasionally uttering a 
short plaintive note. She is exceedingly attached to her 
young, but leads them away from danger without ever 
attempting to defend them by repelling an attack. 
The Sagacity of Of the sagacity of the Turkey Audubon 

the Turkey. savs : " While at Henderson, on the Ohio, I 
had a fine male turkey, which had been reared from its 
earliest youth under my care. It became so tame that it 



THE TURKEY. 301 

would follow any person who called it, and was the favourite 
of the little village. Yet it would never roost with the tame 
turkeys; but regularly betook itself at night to the roof of 
the house, where it remained till dawn. When two years 
old it began to fly to the woods, where it remained for a 
considerable part of the day, and returned to the enclosure 
as night approached. It continued this practice until the 
following spring, when I saw it several times fly from its 
roosting-place to the top of a high cotton-tree on the bank 
of the Ohio, from which, after resting a little, it would sail 
to the opposite shore, the river being there nearly half a 
mile wide, and return towards night. One morning I saw it 
fly off, at a very early hour, to the woods in another direction, 
and took no particular notice of the circumstance. Several 
days elapsed, but the bird did not return. I was going 
towards some lakes near Green River, to shoot, when, having 
walked about five miles, I saw a fine large gobbler cross the 
path before me, moving leisurely along. Turkeys being then 
in prime condition for the table, I ordered my dog to chase 
it and put it up. The animal went off with great rapidity, 
and as it approached the turkey, I saw, with great surprise, 
that the latter paid little attention. Juno was ' on the point 
of seizing it, when she suddenly stopped, and turned her 
head towards me. I hastened to them; but you may easily 
conceive my surprise when I saw my own favourite bird, 
and discovered that it had recognised the dog, and would 
not fly from it, although the sight of a strange dog would 
have caused it to run off at once. A friend of mine, being 
in search of a wounded deer, took the bird on his saddle 
before him, and carried it home for me. The following 
spring it was accidentally shot, having been taken for a wild 
bird, and brought to me, on being recognised by the red 
ribband which it had round its neck." 

Sitting The male Turkey is said to be but an indifferent 

Turkey Cocks, father, but there are some curious illustrations 



SO 2 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

on record of his displaying maternal instincts. Captain Brown 
tells of a cock Turkey near Abingdon who manifested a 
desire to sit and was allowed to experiment with thirteen eggs, 
from which in three weeks he hatched twelve fine chickens. 
A precisely similar incident occurred many years ago in 
Sweden, according to the same authority. 
Domestic The Domestic Fowls are too well known to need 
ow s * description here. They are said to have descended 
from the Java species and have long been the subjects of 
systematic and careful culture. John Guillim who wrote in 1677 
and whose quaint description of the peacock we have already 
quoted, says: "As some account the eagle the queen, and 
the swallow or wagtail the lady, so may I term this (the cock) 
the knight amongst birds, being both of noble courage, and also 
prepared evermore to the battel, having his comb for an helmet, 
his sharp and hooked bill for a faulchion or court-lax, to slash 
and wound his enemy : and as a compleat soldier armed cap- 
a-pe, he hath his legs armed with spurs, giving example to 
the valiant soldier to expell danger by fight, and not by flight. 
The cock croweth when he is victor and giveth a testimony 
of his conquest. If he be vanquished, he shunneth the light, 
and society of men. " The cock is a courageous bird and in 
fighting with his own kind or in the defence of his family will 
show great gallantry and endurance. Buflon thus describes 
an encounter of which he was an observer. He says: "I have 
just witnessed a curious scene. A sparrow hawk alighted 
in a populous court-yard ; when a young cock, of this year's 
hatching, instantly darted at him, and threw him on his back. 
In this situation, the hawk defending himself with his talons 
and his bill, intimidated the hens and turkeys, which streamed 
tumultuously around him. After having a little recovered 
himself, he rose and was taking wing; when the cock rushed 
upon him a second time, upset him, and held him down so 
long, that he was easily caught by a person who witnessed 
the conflict. " The cock is said to show many of the quali- 



DOMESTIC FOWLS. 303 

ties which belong to knighthood. He is jealous, and has been 
known to kill a hen which has hatched a foreign brood ; and 
he is chivalrous both in the treatment of his hens and in 
their defence against their enemies. He has a sense of justice 
too, which he does not hesitate to assert on occasion. Mrs. 
Bowdich says : " On one occasion I saw a cock pursue a 
hen round the poultry-yard ; and, as she had a worm in her 
bill, I at first thought he was so acting from a greedy desire 
to have the delicious morsel; but when he at last caught 
her, he gave her a knock on the head with his beak, and, 
taking up the worm which she had dropped, brought it to 
another hen, who stood witnessing the affray in mute expec- 
tation. A further knowledge of the habits of these birds has 
made me feel sure she had purloined the worm from the 
other, and the cock had restored it to its rightful owner. " 
Though natural fighters, cocks sometimes form friendships 
for each other, and Captain Brown records an instance of 
two game cocks, belonging to the same owner, who obsti- 
nately declined combat though all means were tried to excite 
mutual animosity. These same birds when placed in the ring 
with other cocks fought furiously, and in both cases destroyed 
their antagonists. 

The Common The hen gathering her chickens under her wings 
Hen - is a favourite type of motherhood, and it cannot 
be denied that in many ways the hen shows herself a model 
parent. The care she will expend upon her brood, or upon 
a brood of ducks which she may have hatched, is well known, 
and the courage she will show in their defence is well attested. 
The following from the "Percy Anecdotes" is an illustration 
of this: "In June, 1820, a contest of rather an unusual 
nature took place in the house of Mr. Collins, at Naul in 
Ireland. The parties concerned were, a hen of the game 
species, and a rat of the middle size. The hen, in an acci- 
dental perambulation round a spacious room, accompanied 
by an only chicken, the sole surviving offspring of a numerous 



304 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

brood, was roused to madness by an unprovoked attack made 
by a voracious rat, on her unsuspecting companion. The 
shrieks of the beloved captive, while dragged away by the 
enemy, excited every maternal feeling in the affectionate bosom 
of the feathered dame : she flew at the corner whence the 
alarm arose, seized the lurking enemy by the neck, writhed 
him about the room, put out one of his eyes in the engage- 
ment, and so fatigued her opponent by repeated attacks of 
spur and bill, that in the space of twelve minutes, during 
which time the conflict lasted, she put a final period to the 
invader's existence ; nimbly turned round, in wild but triumph- 
ant distraction, to her palpitating nestling, and hugged it 
in her victorious bosom." In this same work there is a story 
of a hen, near Exeter, which devoted itself with much assiduity 
and success to catching mice. Hens often take to other 
animals and have been known to show great attachment to 
kittens, and to dogs, instances being recorded of hens living 
in dogs' kennels and laying their eggs there under canine 
protection. The concern shown by hens, when the ducks 
they may have hatched take to the water, is very amusing. 
Captain Brown gives an instance of a hen which had 
become used to this phenomena, from having been employed 
in hatching successive broods of ducks, and which showed 
equal concern when a brood of her own chickens avoided 
the watery element. 
ORDER VI. The Hoazin is the only bird of this order. 
The Hoazin. It belongs to Brazil and Guiana and is nearly 
as large as the peacock. It has been variously classified but, 
differing in important characteristics from any other bird, it 
is deemed best to place it in an order by itself. 
ORDER VII. This order includes the Vultures, Condors, 
Birds of Prey. Eagles, Kites, Falcons, Goshawks, Sparrow- 
hawks, Buzzards, Kestrals, Owls, &c, &c. Interesting as many 
of these birds are the briefest possible mention is all that 
we can give of some of them. 



BIRDS OF PREY. 305 

The Eagle. Whatever may be said of the claims of other 
birds, the Eagle is traditionally the king of the air, as the 
lion is king of the forest. There are a large number of 
species of which the Golden Eagle, the Spotted Eagle, the 
Imperial Eagle and the White-headed Sea Eagle are among 
the best known varieties. The Golden Eagle belongs to 
Europe and America, and is sometimes found in Scotland 
and Ireland. It lives upon smaller birds and animals : hares, 
young lambs and deer, grouse, plovers, &c., &c. Though the 
eagle has often attacked children the stories of its carrying 
them away are generally discredited. Eagles often hunt in 
pairs and show great ferocity and determination in attacking 
their prey. 

Eagle Mr. St. John gives the following description of 

Shooting. a shooting expedition in which he bagged a 
pair of splendid birds. " On a very dark morning I sallied 
out with Malcolm to take a shot at the eagles, and at last 
I was ensconced in a hiding-place (near the dead body of a 
sheep) which gave me hardly room to stand, sit, or lie. It 
was scarcely grey dawn when a bird with a slow, napping 
flight passed, and alighted out of sight, but near, for I 
heard him strike the ground, and my heart beat faster. 
What was my disappointment, when his low, crowing croak 
announced a raven; he hopped and walked suspiciously 
round the sheep, till, supposing the coast clear, he hopped 
upon the carcase, and began with his cut and thrust beak 
to dig at the meat. Another raven soon joined him, and 
then two more, who, after a kind of parley, were admitted 
to their share of the banquet. They suddenly set up a 
croak of alarm, stopped feeding, and all turned their knowing 
eyes in one direction. At that moment I heard a sharp 
scream, but very distant. The black party heard it too, 
and instantly darted off, alighting again at a little distance. 
Next came a rushing noise, and the monarch of the clouds 
lighted at once on the sheep. He quietly folded up his 

20 



306 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

wings, . and, throwing back his magnificent head, looked 
round at the ravens, as if wondering at their impudence in 
approaching his breakfast; they kept a respectful silence, 
and hopped further away. The royal bird then turned his 
head in my direction, his bright eye that instant catching 
mine, as it glanced along the barrel of my gun. He rose, I 
drew the trigger, and he fell quite dead six yards from the 
sheep. As one eagle is always followed by a second, I 
remained quiet, in hopes that his mate was not within 
hearing of my shot. I had not waited many minutes when 
I saw the other eagle skimming low over the brow of the 
hill towards me. She did not alight at once, but her eye 
catching the dead body of her mate, she wheeled up into 
the air. I thought she was lost to me, when presently I 
heard her wings brush close over my head, and she wheeled 
' round and round the dead bird, turning her head downwards 
to make out what had happened. At times she stooped so 
low that I could see the sparkle of her eye, and hear her 
low, complaining cry. I watched the time when she turned 
up her wing towards me, and dropped her actually on the 
body of the other. She rose to her feet, and stood gazing 
at me with a reproachful look, and would have done battle, 
but death was busy with her, and as I was loading in haste 
she reeled, and fell perfectly dead." 

The The white-headed or bald eagle, is a native of 

"White-Headed North America, and feeds equally on the produce 
ag e * of the sea and of the land, but is particularly fond 

of fish. " In procuring these," says Wilson, "he displays in a very 
singular manner the genius and energy of his character, which 
is fierce, contemplative, daring and tyrannical, attributes not 
exerted but on particular occasions, but when put forth overwhelm- 
ing all opposition." " Elevated," says Wilson, in his " American 
Ornithology, " " on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree, 
that commands a high view of the neighbouring shore and 
ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the 



THE EAGLE. 307 

various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations 
below; the snow-white gulls, slowly winnowing the air; the 
busy tringae, coursing along the sands; trains of ducks stream- 
ing over the surface; silent and watchful cranes, intent and 
wading; clamorous crows; and all the winged multitude that 
subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. 
High over all these hovers one, whose action instantly arrests 
all attention. By his wide curvature of wing, and sudden 
suspension in the air, he knows him to be the fish-hawk, 
settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye 
kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-opened 
wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid 
as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his 
attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it dis- 
appears in the deep, making the surges foam around! At 
this moment the looks of the eagle are all ardour; and level- 
ling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, 
struggling with his prey, and mounting into the air with 
screams of exultation. This is the signal for the eagle, who, 
launching in the air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on 
the fish-hawk; each exerts his utmost power to mount above 
the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant 
and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered eagle 
rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his 
opponent, when with a sudden scream, probably of despair 
and honest execration, the latter drops his fish ; the eagle 
poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain 
aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere 
it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently 
away into the woods." 

The Vulture. The Vultures have been sometimes called the 
Hyaenas of the feathered, world, and judged by their habits, 
they certainly justify the term. As scavengers they serve 
a useful purpose in Eastern lands and deserve the protec- 
tion they are said to receive from the natives. The Griffin 



308 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Vulture of Europe, Turkey, Persia and Africa, the Egyptian 
Vulture of the Nile country, and the Condor, or American 
Vulture, are the best known varieties. 

The Condor. The American Condor is the largest of the 
birds of prey, and is said to partake of the ferocity of the 
Eagle and the nlthiness of the Vulture. " Two of these birds, 
acting in concert," says an American writer, " will frequently 
attack a puma, a llama, a calf, or even a full-grown cow. 
They will pursue the poor animal with unwearied pertinacity, 
lacerating it incessantly with their beaks and talons, until it 
falls exhausted with fatigue and loss of blood. Then, having 
first seized upon its tongue, they proceed to tear out its eyes, 
and commence their feast with these favourite morsels. The 
intestines form the second course of their banquet, which is 
usually continued until the birds have gorged themselves so 
fully as to render themselves incapable of using their wings 
in flight." This bird is said to measure from three and a 
half to four feet from head to tail. 

The King of This bird which is the handsomest of its tribe 
the Vultures. j s called the King of the vultures, because of the 
royal honours it receives from common vultures. Mr. Byam 
says in his "Central America," "One day, having lost a mule 
by death, he was dragged up to a small hill, not far off, 
where I knew, in an hour or two, he would be safely buried 
in vulture-sepulture. I was standing on a hillock, about a 
hundred yards off, with a gun in my hand, watching the 
surprising distance that a vulture descries his prey from, and 
the gathering of so many from all parts, up and down wind, 
where none had been seen before, and that in a very short 
space of time. Hearing a loud, whirring noise over my head, 
I looked up, and saw a fine large bird, with outstretched 
and seemingly motionless wings, sailing towards the carcase 
that had already been partially demolished. I would not fire 
at the bird ; for I had a presentiment that it was his majesty 
of the vultures; but beckoned to an Indian to come up the 



THE VULTURE. 309 

hill — and, showing him the bird that had just alighted, he 
said, 'the King of the vultures; you will see how he is 
adored.' Directly the fine-looking bird approached the car- 
case, the oi polloi of the vultures retired to a short distance; 
some flew off, and perched on some contiguous branch; 
while by far the greatest number remained, acting the courtier, 
by forming a most respectful and well-kept ring around him. 
His majesty, without any signs of acknowledgment for such 
great civility, proceeded to make a most gluttonous meal ; 
but, during the whole time he was employed, not a single 
envious bird attempted to intrude upon him at his repast, 
until he had finished, and taken his departure with a heavier 
wing and slower flight than on his arrival ; but when he had 
taken his perch on a high tree, not far off, his dirty, ravenous 
subjects, increased in number during his repast, ventured to 
discuss the somewhat diminished carcase; for the royal appe- 
tite was certainly very fine. I have since beheld the above 
scene acted many times, but always with great interest." 
A Feast of Wilson gives the following account of the Black 
Vultures. Vulture of America. " February 21st, 1809. Went 
out to Hampstead this forenoon. A horse had dropped 
down in the street, in convulsions ; and dying, it was dragged 
out to Hampstead, and skinned. I ventured cautiously within 
thirty yards of the carcase, where three or four dogs, and 
twenty or thirty vultures, were busily tearing and devouring. 
Seeing them take no notice, I ventured nearer, till I was 
within ten yards, and sat down on the bank. Still they paid 
little attention to me. The dogs being sometimes accidentally 
flapped with the wings of the vultures, would growl and snap 
at them, which would occasion them to spring up for a 
moment, but they immediately gathered in again. I remarked 
the vultures frequently attack each other, fighting with their 
claws or heels, striking like a cock, with open wings, and 
fixing their claws in each other's heads. The females, and 
I believe the males likewise, made a hissing sound with open 



310 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

mouth, exactly resembling that produced by thrusting a red 
hot poker into water; and frequently a snuffing like a dog 
clearing his nostrils, as I suppose they were theirs. On 
observing that they did not heed me, I stole so close that 
my feet were within one yard of the horse's legs, and I 
again sat down. They all slid aloof a few feet; but seeing 
me quiet, they soon returned as before. As they were often 
disturbed by the dogs, I ordered the latter home: my voice 
gave no alarm to the vultures. As soon as the dogs departed, 
the vultures crowded in such numbers, that I counted at one 
time thirty-seven on and around the carcase, with several 
within; so that scarcely an inch of it was visible, Sometimes 
one would come out w T ith a large piece of the entrails, which 
in a moment was surrounded by several others, who tore it 
in fragments, and it soon disappeared. They kept up the 
hissing occasionally. Some of them having their whole legs 
and heads covered with blood, presented a most savage 
aspect. Sometimes I observed them stretching their neck 
along the ground, as if to press the food downwards." 
The Secretary The Secretary Bird, so called from the possession 
Bird. f feathers thought to resemble pens behind the 
ear, feeds on snakes and other reptiles. Le Vaillant, who 
in dissecting one of these birds, found in his crop eleven 
large lizards, three serpents each a yard in length, eleven 
small tortoises and a great quantity of locusts and other 
insects, once witnessed a contest thus referred in the " Percy 
Anecdotes" : 

" When the secretary approaches a serpent, it always carries 
the point of one of its wings forward, in order to parry off 
its venomous bites; sometimes it finds an opportunity of 
spurning and treading upon its antagonist ; or else, of taking 
him upon its pinions, and throwing him into the air. When 
by this system it has, at length, wearied out its adversary, 
and rendered him almost senseless, it kills and swallows him 
at leisure. On the occasion which Vaillant mentions, the 



THE FALCON. 311 

battle was obstinate, and conducted with equal address on 
both sides. The serpent, feeling at last his inferiority, 
endeavoured to regain his hole; while the bird apparently 
guessing his design, stopped him on a sudden, and cut off 
his retreat by placing herself before him at a single leap. 
On whatever side the reptile endeavoured to make his escape, 
the enemy still appeared before him. Rendered desperate, the 
serpent resolved on a last effort. He erected himself boldly 
to intimidate the bird, and hissing dreadfully, displayed his 
menacing throat, inflamed eyes, and a head swollen with rage 
and venom. The bird seemed intimidated for a moment, 
but soon returned to the charge ; and covering her body with 
one of her wings as a buckler, struck her enemy with the 
bony protuberance of the other. M. Vaillant saw the serpent 
at last stagger and fall; the conqueror then fell upon him 
to despatch him, and with one stroke of her beak laid open 
his skull." 

The Kite. The Kite is common in Europe and is some- 

The Osprey. times seen in Scotland. It is a bird of the Hawk 
e uzzard. ^-^ an( j ma y eRS {\y foe distinguished from other 
birds of prey by its forked tail and the slow and circular 
eddies it describes in the air whenever it spies its prey. 
It measures about two feet in length. The Osprey is common 
in Europe and America. It feeds principally upon fish, in 
pursuit of which it frequents the sea coast and the borders 
of lakes and rivers. It is about two feet in length. The 
common Buzzard is rather smaller, measuring twenty or twenty- 
two inches. It nests on high trees and watches on overhanging 
branches for any prey that may pass beneath. The Marsh 
Harrier which measures twenty-one to twenty-three inches 
is a formidable foe to moles and mice, rabbits and reptiles. 

The Falcon. The Peregrine Falcon so famous in the days 
of Falconry is a fearless bird and does not hesitate to attack 
those of much larger size. For this reason it was often 
employed in hunting the Heron. "In this contest," says 



312 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Mr. Wood, "the Falcon was almost always victorious, and 
after it had attained a sufficient altitude, it swept, or ' stooped', 
as the phrase was, upon the Heron. When the Falcon had 
closed with its prey, they both came to the ground together. 
Sometimes, however, the wary Heron contrived to receive 
its enemy on the point of its sharp beak, and transfixed 
it by its own impetus." This bird is from fifteen to eighteen 
inches in length. Mr. Selby in his " Ornithology " says, " In 
daring disposition, this bird equals most of its congeners. I 
may be allowed to add the following instance, as having 
happened under my own observation, and as exemplifying 
not only its determined perseverance in pursuit of its prey, 
when under the pressure of hunger, but as arguing also an 
unexpected degree of foresight: — In exercising my dogs upon 
the moors, previous to the commencement of the shooting- 
season, I observed a large bird of the hawk genus, hovering 
at a distance, which, upon approaching, I knew to be a 
Peregrine Falcon. Its attention was now drawn towards the 
dogs, and it accompanied them, whilst they beat the surrounding 
ground. Upon their having found, and sprung a brood of 
grouse, the falcon immediately gave chase, and struck a 
young bird, before they had proceeded far upon wing. My 
shouts and rapid advance, prevented it from securing its 
prey. The issue of this attempt, however, did not deter the 
falcon from watching our subsequent movements, and another 
opportunity soon offering, it again gave chase, and struck 
down two birds, by two rapidly repeated blows, one of 
which it secured, and bore off in triumph." 

The The Sparrow-hawk which measures from twelve 

Sparrow to fifteen inches long is a terror to smaller 
Hawk. birds, showing great pertinacity in their pursuit. 
Mr. St. John says that one pursued a pigeon through his 
"drawing-room window, and out at the other end of the 
house through another window, and never slackened its 
pursuit, notwithstanding the clattering of the broken glass of 



THE SPARROW-HAWK— THE OWL. 313 

the two windows as they passed through," and that on 
another occasion he found "a sparrow hawk deliberately 
standing on a very large pouter pigeon on the drawing-room 
floor, and plucking it, having entered in pursuit of the 
unfortunate bird through an open window, and killed him 
in the room." White says, in his "Natural History of 
Selborne," "About the tenth of July, a pair of sparrow-hawks 
bred in an old crow's nest on a low beech in Selborne- 
hanger; and as their brood, which was numerous, began to 
grow up, they became so daring and ravenous, that they 
were a terror to all the dames in the village that had chickens 
or ducklings under their care. A boy climbed the tree, and 
found the young so fledged that they all escaped from him ; 
but discovered that a good house had been kept; the larder 
was well stored with provisions; for he brought down a 
young blackbird, jay, and house martin, all clean picked, and 
some half devoured. The old birds had been observed to 
make sad havoc for some days among the new flown swallows 
and martins, which, being but lately out of their nests, had 
not acquired those powers and command of wing that enable 
them when more mature to set enemies at defiance." 

The Owl. Great interest attaches to the owl from the sin- 
gularity of its appearance and habits. There are many 
varieties, the Common Barn Owl; the Long-eared Owl; the 
Great Eagle Owl; and the American Horned Owl being some 
of these. The Barn Owl measures about twelve inches in 
length. This bird does great service in the destruction of 
mice, rats, and other vermin, and it is the nemesis of fate 
that it is destroyed by those it serves. Its movements are 
noiseless, the peculiar form of the feathers of its wings enabling 
it to fly without making any sound, and so surprise its prey. 
"Its method of devouring a mouse," says Mr. Wood, "is quite 
different from the mode in which it eats a bird. If a mouse 
is given to an owl, the bird seizes it across the back, and 
gives it one or two smart bites, much as a terrier handles a 



314 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

rat. The mouse is then jerked upwards, and caught again 
head downwards. A second jerk sends the mouse half down 
the owl's throat, while its tail remains sticking out of the 
side of its bill, where it is rolled about as if the owl were 
smoking. After some time has been spent in this amusement, 
another jerk causes the mouse to disappear altogether, and 
the owl looks very happy and contented. But if a small 
bird is presented to it, the owl tears it up and devours it 
piecemeal." The great Eagle Owl which measures two feet 
and upwards will attack hares, rabbits, and young fawns. 
ORDER VIII. The order of wading birds includes many 

Wading Birds, that we can do no more than mention : — the 
Moor Hen; the Woodcock; the Snipe; the Water pheasant; 
the Plover; the Lapwing; the Crane; the Heron; the Stork; 
and the Flamingo are the more familiar birds of the order, 
which however includes the Crakes; the Coots; the Curlews; 
the Bustards; the Sandpipers, and others. 

The Cranes. The Cranes belong to Africa and Southern Asia, 
but migrate from clime to clime as the seasons change. The 
flight of the Cranes, like that of some other birds, is a compact 
and well ordered progression. They fly high and commonly 
at night, apparently under the direction of a leader whose 
course they follow and whose calls they obey. There are 
several varieties, the Common Crane, the Numidian Crane, 
and the Balearic Crane being the better known of these. 

The Heron. The Heron is an expert fisherman and has 
all the necessary patience for the pursuit of his sport. He 
will stand motionless for hours at the water side, waiting his 
opportunity, and then dart with unerring aim at the unsuspect- 
ing fish and secure his meal. The bill of the heron is a 
powerful weapon, and as we remarked when dealing with the 
falcons, formerly used in hunting the heron, it will sometimes 
transfix the Falcon by throwing its head back and receiving 
its enemy on the point. Captain Brown gives an illustration 
which shows that the Heron's bill may be as effective in 



WADING BIRDS. 315 

other cases. "A gentleman being on a shooting excursion, 
accompanied by a small spaniel, observed a heron wading 
a little above a waterfall. He fired —wounded it— and sent 
his dog into the stream to bring it to land. As soon as the 
dog had come within its reach, the heron drew back its 
head, and with all its force, struck him in the ribs with its 
bill. The gentleman again fired, and killed the heron; but 
it had well revenged itself: both dog and heron floated dead 
together, down the foaming waterfall." The Heron nests on 
the tops of high trees and lives in companies. 
The Bittern. The Bittern is remarkable for its loud booming 
cry which has some resemblance to the bellowing of a bull, 
and for its spiral flight which it pursues to a great altitude. 
The Stork. Storks are found in different parts of Europe, 
Asia and Africa. In Holland, and in some other countries, 
they live in a state of semi-domestication, encouraged by the 
people, and building nests upon the roofs of their houses. 
They feed on rats, mice, frogs, and other vermin, and 
render the Hollander good service by keeping down the 
numbers of such pests. In the East they act as scavengers, 
and for this reason are as much encouraged by the people. 
"A recent visitor to Constantinople," says Mr. Wood, "remarks 
that the very Storks seemed to have become Ottoman, for 
they sat on the tops of the houses, looking staid and solemn, 
as becomes the Oriental character, and managed their beaks 
just as if they were pipes. It is true that they wore no 
turbans, but each of them appeared to have left a turban of 
preposterous dimensions, viz., his nest, on the roof of a house 
close by." The Stork is easily tamed and sometimes shows 
considerable intelligence. 

The Jealousy The following illustration which we take from 
of the stork, the " Percy Anecdotes" shows that the Stork shares 
with other birds the feeling of jealousy. " In Smyrna there 
are a great number of storks, who build their nests and hatch 
their young very regularly. The inhabitants, in order to divert 



316 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

themselves at the expense of these birds, and gratify a cruel 
disposition, sometimes convey hens' eggs into the stork's 
nest; and when the young are hatched, the cock on seeing 
them of a different form from his own species, makes a 
hideous noise, which brings a crowd of other storks about the 
nest, who to revenge the disgrace which they imagine the 
hen has brought upon her race, immediately peck her to 
death. The cock in the meantime makes the heaviest lamen- 
tation, as if bewailing his misfortune, which obliged him to 
have recourse to such extreme punishment." 
A stork's From the same work we quote the following, 
Revenge, which shows that though ordinarily placid and 
placable the stork can cherish the feeling of revenge. "A 
wild stork was brought by a farmer in the neighbourhood of 
Hamburgh, into his poultry yard, to be the companion of a 
tame one, which he had long kept there ; but the tame stork 
disliking a rival, fell upon the poor stranger, and beat him 
so unmercifully that he was compelled to take wing, and with 
some difficulty escaped. About four months afterwards, how- 
ever, he returned to the poultry yard, recovered of his wounds, 
and attended by three other storks, who no sooner alighted, 
than they all together fell upon the tame stork, and killed it." 
ORDER IX. This order includes the Goose, the Duck, 
The Geese, the Swan, the Teal, the Gull, the Petrel, the 
Albatross, the Cormorant, the Pelican, the Penguin, the 
Grebe, the Great Auk, the Puffin and other birds. The 
first of these is found in all parts of the world, geese 
being especially cultivated in England for the sake of their 
quills and feathers, and for the purposes of food. The 
goose, far from being the foolish bird it is popularly esteemed, 
often shows considerable intelligence, as well as great affection 
for those who show it kindness. 

The Many instances are recorded of gratitude shown 

Gratitude of by geese towards those who have befriended 

the Goose, them. Buffon once rescued a young gander from 



THE GOOSE. 317 

an older and stronger bird, after which his young protege 
would follow him on all his daily walks, never tiring of his 
company. "On one occasion," says Buffon, "he heard' me 
talking in the rector's upper room, and as he found the 
front door open, climbed upstairs, and, marching into the 
room, gave a loud exclamation of joy, to the no small 
astonishment of the family." 

A Wild Bishop Stanley, in his " Familiar History of 

Goose Chase. Birds," says: — "An officer settled on a farm near 
the Missouri in North America, one day, when walking near the 
banks of the river, observed a large eagle frequently darting 
towards the water, and then rising again. On a near approach, 
he perceived that its object was to take a wild goose, which 
had alighted on the water, and which was diving to avoid 
so powerful an enemy. Its efforts, however, j^Dpeared to be 
in vain ; and, after diving again and again, and as often rising 
to get breath, it became nearly exhausted, when, suddenly 
turning, it made for the shore with all speed towards the 
officer's house, where two men were at work, and as soon 
as it had landed walked leisurely up to them, permitting 
itself to be taken without attempting to escape. It was 
completely exhausted, but soon recovered, and within three 
days seemed quite contented, and confident of protection." 
Goose There are some curious instances known of 

Friendships, friendships formed by geese for both men and 
animals, apparently without any special reason. A goose in 
Cheshire once followed a farmer with so much persistency, 
at the plough, to the market, and in the house, that the 
farmer who had shown it no special kindness, superstitiously . 
regarded it as a bird of ill omen and had it killed. A 
singular friendship grew up some years ago between a 
gander at York and an old man who lived near the farm 
to which the bird belonged. In this case the gander waddled 
off in the morning and spent the day with his human friend, 
returning at night to its home at the farm. One of the 



318 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

prettiest of these stories is that of a gander in Germany who 
used to lead a blind woman to church, taking the corner of 
her apron in his beak, and wait quietly in the churchyard 
until the service was over to conduct her home again. 
Another goose was known to have a great affection for 
soldiers and to regularly perform sentry duty, walking back- 
wards and forwards for hours with his red-coated friends. 
The Goose and A more singular friendship than any perhaps, 

the Dog. was that existing between a goose and a dog, 
thus described in " The Philosophical Magazine " : — 

"A species of goose, a native of Africa, belonging to a 
person in Scotland, was observed some time ago to pay 
particular attention to a dog. which was chained up; a dog 
which had previously manifested a great dislike to poultry, 
never allowing them to come within reach of his chain. The 
goose, finding she had nothing to fear from her canine friend, 
would enter his kennel, in the centre of which, among the 
straw, she made her nest and deposited her eggs, which was 
not known till one of the family mentioned that the goose 
slept in the dog's bosom. The singularity of the circumstance 
led to an examination of the box, but not without the 
greatest reluctance on the part of the dog, who appeared 
determined to protect what was left to his charge. On 
removing the straw, five eggs were discovered in a fine bed 
of down and feathers. The dog was in the habit of going 
into his box with the greatest care, for fear of injuring 
the eggs." 

The Maternal The R ev - C. A. Bury gives a pathetic illus tra- 
ins tinct of the tion of the maternal instinct of the goose: — 

" An old goose, that had been for a fortnight 
hatching in a farmer's kitchen was perceived on a sudden 
to be taken violently ill. She soon after left the nest, and 
repaired to an outhouse where there was a young goose of 
the first year, which she brought with her into the kitchen. 
The young one immediately scrambled into the old one's 



THE DUCK. 319 

nest, sat, hatched, and afterwards brought up the brood. 
The old goose, as soon as the young one had taken her 
place, sat down by the side of the nest, and shortly after 
died. As the young goose had never been in the habit of 
entering the kitchen before, I know of no way of accounting 
for this fact than by supposing that the old one had some 
way of communicating her thoughts and anxieties, which the 
other was perfectly able to understand. A sister of mine, 
who witnessed the transaction, gave me the information in 
the evening of the very day it happened." The Rev. F. C. 
Morris tells of a goose which had a number of ducks' eggs 
placed with some of her own that she might hatch them, 
but which twice removed the ducks' eggs from the group, de- 
clining to sit on any but her own. 

The Duck. The many varieties of Ducks might well occupy 
much more space than we can spare for them. The better 
known of these are the Wild Duck, the Common Duck, the 
Eider Duck, the Long-tailed Duck, the King Duck, the 
Canvas-back Duck, the Mallard, the Teal, the Widgeon, the 
Mandarin, and the Common Shelldrake. 

An interesting illustration of the affection which ducks 
sometimes show towards each other is given by Dr. Stanley. 
He says : — " A pair of Muscovy Ducks were landed at Holyhead 
from a Liverpool vessel, returning from the coast of Africa. 
The male was conveyed to a gentleman's house, and put 
with other ducks, towards whom he evinced the utmost 
indifference: he evidently pined for the loss of his mate; but 
she was brought after a time, and let loose; he did not at 
first see her, but when, on turning his head, he caught a 
glimpse of her, he rushed towards her with a joy which was 
quite affecting. Nothing after that would induce him to quit 
her; he laid his beak upon hers, nestled his head under her 
wing, and often gazed at her with the greatest delight." 

The Swan. The Swan is one of the most graceful of the 
bird kind, the purity of its colour and the beauty of its 



320 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

form as it glides along the river making it one of the prettiest 
sights in nature. There are several varieties of the swan, of 
which the Whooping Swan and the Common Swan of Europe, 
the Black Swan of Australia, and the Black-necked Swan of 
South America are the most familiar. 

The Maternal ^he swan * s assiduous in the care of her young, 
Instinct of the and shows great intelligence in providing for 
Swan. them as well as courage in their defence. She 
makes her nest in the grass among reeds; and in February 
begins to lay, depositing egg after egg t until there are six or 
eight. Dr. Latham mentions two females that for three or 
four years successively, agreed to associate, and had each a 
brood yearly, bringing up together about eleven young ones : 
they sat by turns, and never quarrelled. Captain Brown 
gives a remarkable illustration of the courage of a swan in 
defending her nest. He says: — "A female swan, while in the 
act of sitting, observed a fox swimming towards her from the 
opposite shore: She instantly darted into the water, and 
having kept him at bay for a considerable time with her 
wings, at last succeeded in drowning him ; after which, in the 
sight of several persons, she returned in triumph. This cir- 
cumstance took place at Pensy, in Buckinghamshire." 
The Swan's Mr. Yarrell, in his "British Birds," mentions a 
Intelligence, remarkable instance of the sagacity and intelligence 
of the swan: "A female swan was sitting on four or five 
eggs. One day she was observed to be very busy in collecting 
weeds, grasses, and sticks, to raise her nest above its usual 
level. A kind-hearted farming man threw her some handfuls 
of brushwood, with which she most industriously raised her 
nest, and soon placed the eggs about two feet and a half 
above the old level. That night there came down a tremen- 
dous fall of rain, which flooded all the fields and cellars, 
and did great damage in the village. Man made no prepar- 
ation — the bird did; and instinct prevailed over reason! 
Her eggs were above, and only just above, the water." 



THE SEA-GULL. 32 I 

The Swan Swans are said to be spiteful at times, and to 

and the show a savagery of temper on occasion, for which, 

Fawn. as | n t | ie f n ow i n g case? it is difficult to account. 

"In the park of Lord Grantley at Wonersh, near Guildford, 

a fawn, drinking, was suddenly pounced upon by one of the 

swans, which pulled the animal into the water, and held it 

under until quite drowned. This action was observed by the 

other deer in the park, and did not long go unrevenged ; for 

shortly after, this very swan, which had hitherto never been 

molested by the deer, was singled out when on land, and 

furiously attacked by a herd, which surrounded and killed it." 

The The Gulls are a numerous family, the Common 

Common Gull, the Herring Gull, the Great Black-Backed 

Sea-Guii. q u ]| anc | ^he Ivory Gull being well known species. 

The Common Gull is found everywhere. It frequents the 

coasts of continents and islands and feeds principally upon 

fish, though its voracity is very accommodating, and its taste 

not over fastidious. 

A Tame Many years ago, Mr. Scot, of Benholm, near 
Sea-guU. Montrose, caught a sea-gull, and having cut its 
w r ings put it into his garden. The bird remained in this situa- 
tion for several years, and being kindly treated, became so 
familiar, as to come at call to be fed at the kitchen door 
and to answer to the name of Willie. It became so tame 
at last that no pains were thought necessary to circumscribe 
its liberty, and its wings having grown to full length, it flew 
away, joined the other gulls on the beach, and came back, 
from time to time, to pay a visit to the house. When its 
companions left the country at the usual season, Willie ac- 
companied them, much to the regret of the family. To their 
great joy, however, it returned next season; and with its 
usual familiarity came to its old haunt, where it was welcomed 
and fed very liberally. In this way it went and returned for 
forty years, without intermission, and kept up its acquaintance 
with the family, for while in the country it visited them 

21 



322 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

almost daily, answered to its name like any domestic animal, 
and ate almost out of the hand. One year, however, very 
near the period of its final disappearance, Willie did not pay 
his respects to the family for eight or ten days after the 
general flock of gulls were upon the coast, and great was 
their lamentation for his loss, as it was feared he was dead: 
but to the surprise and joy of the family, a servant one 
morning came running into the breakfast-room with delight, 
announcing that Willie was returned. The whole company 
rose from the table to welcome the bird. Food was supplied 
in abundance, and Willie with his usual frankness ate of it 
heartily, and was as tame as any barn -yard fowl about the 
house. In a year or two afterwards this grateful bird disap- 
peared for ever. 

Mother ^ e Stormy Petrel or Mother Carey's Chicken, 

Carey's is a small black bird well known to mariners, and 
Chicken. f am jii ar to all at sea in stormy weather. It 
follows in the wake of ships and is regarded as a prophet of 
evil, at least in so far as stormy weather is concerned. It 
is seen in many parts of the ocean busily engaged in searching 
for food, braving the fury of the storm and skimming along 
the waves, sometimes above their tops, and sometimes screen- 
ing itself from the blast by sinking down into the billows 
between them. It nests in all but inaccessible places, the 
Island of St. Kilda being the chief British breeding place of 
the Fulmar variety. These are of great importance to the 
natives who run great risks in searching for their eggs and 
who catch the birds for the purposes of food, and for the 
oil which they supply. 

Catching the The danger attaching to the capture of the 
Stormy Petrel in its rocky haunts in the Hebrides is thus 
e re vividly described by Mr. Drosier. " As the stormy 
petrel, is scarcely ever to be seen near the land, except in 
very boisterous weather, one of the natives for a trifling 
remuneration, agreed to traverse the face of a rock, and take 



THE STORMY PETREL. 323 

me some from out its fissures. Accordingly, accoutred with 
a rope of hemp and hogs' bristles coiled over his shoulders, 
he proceeded to the cliff. Having made one end fast by 
means of a stake, he threw the coil over the face of the rock, 
and gradually lowered himself down, but with the utmost 
caution and circumspection, carefully pressing his foot hard 
upon the narrow ridges before he at all loosened his firm 
grasp of the rope, which he never altogether abandoned. I 
had previously thrown myself upon my chest, to enable me 
to have a better view of him, by looking over the cliff; and, 
certainly, to see the dexterity and bravery with w r hich he 
threw himself from one aperture to another, was truly grand. 
The tumbling roar of the Atlantic was foaming many hundreds 
of feet beneath, and dashing its curling cream-like surge against 
the dark base of the cliff, in sheets of the most beautiful 
white ; while the herring and black-backed gulls, alternately 
sweeping past him so as to be almost in reach of his arm, 
threw a wildness into the scene, by the discordant scream of 
the former, and the laughing, oft-repeated bark of the latter. 
This, however, he appeared entirely to disregard ; and con- 
tinuing his search, returned in about half an hour, with seven 
or eight of the stormy petrels, tied up in an old stocking, 
and a pair of the Manks puffins, together with their eggs. 
The birds, he told me, he had no difficulty in capturing. The 
eggs of the stormy petrel are surprisingly large, considering 
the diminutive size of the bird, being as large as those of 
the thrush. The female lays two eggs, of a dirty or dingy 
white, encircled at the larger end by a ring of fine rust-coloured 
freckles. The birds merely collect a few pieces of dried grass, 
with a feather or two, barely sufficient to prevent the eggs 
from rolling or moving on the rock." 

The Cormorant. The Common Cormorant is familiar all round 
the coast of England, and will even sometimes venture inland 
or at any rate up the mouths of rivers. Captain Brown 
mentions one that, many years ago, was seen resting upon 



324 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the vane of St. Martin's steeple, Ludgate Hill, London; and 
was shot in the presence of a large number of people. It 
is a voracious bird and shows great dexterity in the catching 
and swallowing of fish, turning them round so as to swallow them 
head foremost, in order to avoid the resistance of the fins and 
spines. Colonel Montague had one, caught in a tributary of 
the Bristol Channel, by a Newfoundland dog, which at first 
refused food but offered no resistance to being crammed. 
" The Colonel having retired to the library after seeing the 
bird fed," says Captain Brown, "was surprised in a few 
minutes to see it walk boldly into the room, unceremoniously 
place itself by him at the side of the fire, and begin to dress 
its feathers. This practice it continued till removed to an 
aquatic menagerie. Whenever it saw the water it became 
restless, and on being set at liberty, plunged into it, and 
incessantly dived for a considerable time in search of fish. 
After this, it seemed to be convinced that there were none 
to be found there, as it was not noticed to dive again for 
three days." 

The Albatross. The great Albatross is a large and powerful 
bird, measuring three feet in length and having a stretch of 
wing of from nine to twelve or fourteen feet. It is a heavy 
bird, and needs great strength to sustain its weight during 
its long and rapid flights. Mrs. Bowdich says, " One was 
known to follow a ship, which made two hundred miles a 
day, for forty-eight hours; and besides these miles, from its 
irregular flight, it must have passed over a much longer 
distance. The Albatross darts with unerring aim and great 
force on its prey, as it swims on the top of the waves. A man 
who fell overboard near the island of St. Paul's was killed 
'by these birds; for, although the boat was lowered immediately, 
nothing was found of him except his hat, pierced through 
and through by the beaks of three albatrosses, who had 
marked him, pecked him on the head, and caused him to 
sink." Their flight is easy and apparently performed without 



THE ALBATROSS— THE PELICAN. 325 

effort and with an almost imperceptible movement of wing. 
The Albatross is easily caught from the stern of a ship with 
a hook. Mr. Wood says: "It seems rather remarkable that 
a bird that lives in or over the sea during its whole life, 
should prove a landsman when taken on board. Yet, when 
the Albatross is caught and placed on deck, it begins to 
stagger about, and soon becomes as thoroughly sea sick as 
the most inexperienced cockney." Mr. Earl thus describes 
the haunt of the Albatross in the heights of the Island of 
Tristan d'Acunha : " A death-like stillness prevailed in these 
high regions, and to my ear our voices had a strange un- 
natural echo, and I fancied our forms appeared gigantic, 
whilst the air was piercing cold. The prospect was altogether 
sublime, and filled the mind with awe. The huge Albatross 
here appeared to dread no interloper or enemy; for their 
young were on the ground completely uncovered, and the 
old ones were stalking around them. " 

The Pelican. The Pelican is one of the largest of swimming 
birds. It is distinguished by the possession of a pouch which 
is capable of holding two gallons of water, and which it uses 
for the purposes of catching fish, and feeding its young. In 
this latter operation the bird presses its pouch which hangs 
beneath its beak, against its breast, and so disgorges its 
contents. This action is said to have given rise to the fable 
that pelicans pluck nourishment from their own breasts to 
feed their young. The Pelican belongs to the South and 
East of Europe and the North of Africa. 

A Tame Mr. Hill, of St. Domingo, gives an interesting 

Pelican, account of a tame pelican which is quoted by 
Mrs. Bowdich. He says: — "The facility with which the 
pelican resigns itself to fasting or feasting, was very interest- 
ingly exhibited to me in a bird I saw the other day at 
Passage Fort. It was a pelican of mature age; it flew back- 
wards and forwards, visiting the wild flocks, and feeding 
with them in the harbour during the day, and withdrew from 



326 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

them to roost in its master's yard during the night. In that 
period of restraint, when it was necessary to observe the 
caution of drawing its quill feathers, to keep it within 
diminished capabilities of flight, until it became familiar and 
domesticated, it was wholly dependent on the fish provided 
for it by the fishermen of the beach. Sunday was no fishing 
day with these men; and this was, therefore, a day in which 
there were no supplies for the pelican. It became, in time, 
so conscious of the recurrence of this fast-day, that although, 
at all other times, it went daily down to the sea-side to 
wait the coming in of the canoes, on the seventh day it 
never stirred from the incumbent trunk of a tree, on which 
it roosted, within the yard. It had been found necessary to 
pluck its wdngs within the last two or three months, to re- 
strain it within bounds, in consequence of its absence latterly 
with the wild birds, for several days in succession, and in 
this state it was reduced, as formerly, to depend on the 
fishermen for food. The old habit of abstinence and drowsy 
repose on the Sundays again recurred, and when I saw it, 
it was once more a tranquil observer of the rest, and with 
it the fast, of the Sabbath-day." 

The Penguin. The Penguin belongs to South America, Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand and the Cape of Good Hope. There 
are a number of species ; the Jackass Penguin, so called from 
the peculiarity of its cry, the King Penguin of the South 
Pacific, and the Cape Penguin of Cape Horn, the largest of 
the penguins, being the principal varieties. Mr. Darwin in 
describing the Jackass penguin says: — "In diving, its little 
plumeless wings are used as fins, but on the land as front 
legs. When crawling (it may be said on four legs) through 
the tussocks, or on the side of a grassy cliff, it moved so 
very quickly that it might readily have been mistaken for a 
quadruped. When at sea and fishing, it comes to the surface, 
for the purpose of breathing, with such a spring, and dives 
again so instantaneously, that I defy any one at first sight 



THE PENGUIN— THE PUFFIN. 327 

to be sure that it is not a fish leaping for sport." The pen- 
guin is a courageous bird, and will not hesitate to attack a 
man. Mr. Darwin when on the Falkland Islands, placed 
himself between one of the Patagonian penguins and the 
water, and till it reached the sea, it regularly fought and 
drove him backwards. It stood close before him, erect and 
determined, and every inch gained it firmly kept. Nothing 
less than heavy blows would have stopped it. 

The Puffin. The Puffin is a bird of singular appearance 
and interesting habits. It is sometimes called the sea parrot 
from the resemblance of its head to that of the Parrot 
kind. The bird measures thirteen inches in length, and its 
bill is a formidable weapon. The Raven seems to be its 
natural enemy, and when they come to close quarters a 
great deal depends upon which succeeds in getting the first 
grip. Naturally each bird has the best chance in its own 
element. It is a bird of passage, visiting its customary 
breeding places in the summer and wintering in southern 
Europe. Mr. Rennie says, "In the breeding season, numer- 
ous troops of them visit several places on our coasts, 
particularly the small island of Priestholm, near Anglesey, 
which might well be called puffin land, as the whole surface 
appears literally covered with them. Soon after their arrival 
in May, they prepare for breeding, and it is said, the male, 
contrary to the usual economy of birds, undertakes the hardest 
part of the labour. He begins by scraping up a hole 
in the sand not far from the shore; and after having got 
some depth he throws himself on his back, and with his 
powerful bill as a digger and his broad feet to remove 
the rubbish, he excavates a burrow with several windings 
and turnings, from eight to ten feet deep. He prefers, 
where he can find a stone, to dig under it, in order that 
his retreat may be more securely fortified. Whilst thus 
employed, the birds are so intent upon their work that they 
are easily caught by the hand." 



328 NATURAL HISTORY TN ANECDOTE. 

ORDER X. This or der includes the Ostrich, the Rhea, the 
The Cassowaries and the Emus. The Ostrich be- 
Ostriches. Jongs to Africa, Australasia, and South America. 
It is the largest of the birds, attaining to a height of six 
feet, and a weight of three hundred pounds. It is hunted 
for the sake of its feathers, but being very swift of foot has 
to be circumvented by strategy. It is said to run in large 
curves, which habit gives the hunter the opportunity of riding 
straight and intercepting it. "A favourite method adopted 
by the wild Bushman for approaching the Ostrich and other 
varieties of game," says Captain Cumming, "is to clothe him- 
self in the skin of one of these birds, in which, taking care 
of the wind, he stalks about the plain, cunningly imitating 
the gait and motions of the Ostrich, until within range, when, 
with a well-directed poisoned arrow from his tiny bow, he 
can generally seal the fate of any of the ordinary varieties 
of game. " The eggs of the Ostrich are also much prized. 
"The nest," says Captiin Cumming, "is merely a hollow 
scooped in the sandy soil, generally amongst heath or other 
low bushes; its diameter is about seven feet; it is believed 
that two hens often lay in one nest. The hatching of the 
eggs is not left, as is generally believed, to the heat of the 
sun, but, on the contrary, the cock relieves the hen in the 
incubation. The eggs form a considerable item in the Bush- 
man's cuisine, and the shells are converted into water flasks, 
cups, and dishes. I have often seen Bush-girls and Bakala- 
hari women, who belong to the wandering Bechuana tribes 
of the Kalahari desert, come down to the fountains from 
their remote habitations, sometimes situated at an amazing 
distance, each carrying on her back a kaross, or a net-work 
containing from twelve to fifteen ostrich egg-shells, which had 
been emptied by a small aperture at one end ; these they 
fill with water. " 

The Ostrich The Ostrich shows the same affection for its 
and its Young. ma te, and the same devotion to the care of its 



THE OSTRICH. 329 

young that we have noticed in other birds, and in animals. 
The female of a pair in Paris died through swallowing a 
three-cornered piece of glass which a glazier had dropped 
into their cage, after which the mate pined away and died 
in a few weeks. Of their care of their young Captain 
dimming says: 

" I fell in with a troop of about twelve young ostriches, 
which were not much larger than Guinea-fowls. I was 
amused to see the mother endeavour to lead us away, exactly 
like a wild duck, spreading out and drooping her wings, and 
throwing herself down on the ground before us as if wounded, 
while the cock bird cunningly led the brood away in an 
opposite direction." Professor Thunberg once rode past the 
place where a hen Ostrich was sitting in her nest; when 
the bird sprang up, and pursued him, evidently with a view 
to prevent his noticing her eggs or young. Every time he 
turned his horse towards her she retreated ten or twelve 
paces; but as soon as he rode again she pursued him, till 
he had got to a considerable distance from the place where 
he had started her. 

The Rhea. The Rhea is a beautiful bird of the ostrich 

The Cassowary, type belonging to South America. There are 
several species, known as the Common Rhea, 
the Great-billed Rhea, and Darwin's Rhea, the latter belong- 
ing to Patagonia. A Common Rhea bred some time ago in 
the Zoological gardens, when the male bird discharged the 
duties of incubation. The Cassowary and the Emu belong 
to Australia. The Cassowary resembles the ostrich in form, 
but is not so large. It stands about five feet. Like all these 
birds it is unable to fly, but is very swift of foot. It can 
kick too, with great violence, as dogs have sometimes found 
to their cost. The Emu is a very large bird and is said 
sometimes to exceed six feet in height. 

Mr. Bennett says: — "The length of its legs and the muscu- 
larity of its thighs enable it to run with great swiftness; and as 



330 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

it is exceedingly shy, it is not easily overtaken or brought within 
gun-shot. Captain Currie states that it affords excellent coursing, 
equalling if not surpassing the same sport with the hare in 
England; but Mr. Cunningham says that dogs will seldom attack 
it, both on account of some peculiar odour in its flesh which 
they dislike, and because the injuries inflicted upon them by 
striking out with its feet are frequently very severe. The 
settlers even assert that the Emu will break the small bone 
of a man's leg by this sort of kick; to avoid which, well- 
trained dogs run up abreast, and make a sudden spring 
at the neck, whereby the bird is quickly dispatched. Its 
flesh has been compared to coarse beef, which it resembles 
both in appearance and taste." Mr. Jesse says, "The only 
instance I have met with in which the hen bird has not the 
chief care in hatching and bringing up the young, is in the 
case of the Emus, at the farm belonging to the Zoological 
Society, near Kingston. A pair of these birds bred five 
young ones : the female, at different times, dropped nine 
eggs in various places in the pen in which she was confined. 
These were collected in one place by the male, who rolled 
them gently and carefully along with his beak. He then 
sat upon them himself, and continued to do so with the 
utmost assiduity, for nine weeks, during which time the 
female never took his place, nor was he ever observed to 
leave the nest. When the young were hatched, he alone 
took charge of them, the female not appearing to notice 
them in any way. On reading this anecdote, many persons 
may suppose that the female emu is not possessed of that 
natural affection for its young which other birds have. In 
order to rescue it from this supposition, I will mention that 
a female emu belonging to the Duke of Devonshire at 
Chiswick, laid some eggs; and as there was no male bird, 
she collected them together herself, and sat upon them." 
The Apteryx, the wingless bird of New Zealand, belongs 
to this order. 



NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 
VERTEBRATA. 

CLASS III— REPTILIA. 

This order introduces us to creatures differing 
UKUHK 1. . . 

The Tortoise ver ^ widely, in form and character, from those 
and which we have been considering. There are more 

The Turtle. t nan two hundred species of the tortoise, and 
these are grouped into four families. The Common European 
tortoise is found in the South of France and Italy, as well 
as in Sicily and Greece. It feeds on vegetables, and under 
favourable circumstances lives a great number of years. It 
is slow in its movements but it burrows rapidly and is soon 
out of sight in the sandy soil it affects. Tortoises are commonly 
kept in a state of domestication in England, one known to 
the writer showing a great preference for pansies, eating the 
flowers and leaving the other parts of the plant. Mr. Wood 
describes the efforts made by a tortoise in his possession to 
attain the summit of a footstool, which shows that the reptile 
has some measure of intelligence. "Unfit as the form of 
the creature may seem for such a purpose," says Mr. Wood, 
"it did contrive to scramble upon a footstool which was 
placed by the fender. Its method of attaining this elevation 
was as follows: — First it reared up against the footstool in 
the angle formed by it and the fender, and after several 
ineffectual attempts, succeeded in hitching the claws of one 
of its hind feet into the open work of the fender. On this 
it raised itself, and held on to the top of the stool by its 

33* 



332 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

fore feet, while it gained another step on the fender, and 
so managed to raise itself to such a height, that it only had 
to fall flat on the top of the footstool. When once there, 
it could hardly be induced to leave the elevation which it 
had gained with such difficulty." 

The Elephant The gigantic tortoises of the Galapagos Islands 
Tortoise, came under the observation of Mr. Darwin, from 
whom we quote the following descriptive passages: "These 
animals are found, I believe, in all the Islands of the Galapagos 
Archipelago. They frequent in preference the high damp 
parts, but likewise inhabit the lower and arid districts. Some 
individuals grow to an immense size. Mr. Lawson told us 
that he had seen several so large that it required six or 
eight men to lift them from the ground, and that some had 
afforded as much as two hundred pounds of meat. This 
tortoise is very fond of water, drinking large quantities and 
wallowing in the mud. The larger islands alone possess 
springs, and these are always situated towards the central 
parts and at a considerable elevation. The tortoises, there- 
fore, which frequent the lower districts, when thirsty have to 
travel from a long distance. Hence broad and well beaten 
paths radiate off in every direction from the wells, even 
down to the sea coasts, and the Spaniards by following them 
up first discovered the watering-places. Near the springs it 
was a curious spectacle to behold many of these great 
monsters; one set eagerly travelling onwards with outstretched 
necks, and another set returning, having drunk their fill. The 
tortoises when moving towards any definite point, travel by 
night and day, and arrive at their journey's end much sooner 
than would be expected. One large tortoise, which I watched, 
I found walked at the rate of sixty yards in ten minutes, 
that is three hundred and sixty in the hour, or four miles a 
day, allowing also a little time to eat on the road. During 
the breeding season, when the male and female are together, 
the male utters a hoarse roar or bellowing, which, it is said, 



THE TORTOISE— THE TURTLE. 333 

can be heard at a distance of more than a hundred yards. 
The female never uses her voice and the male only at such 
times. They were at this season (the month of October) 
laving their eggs. The female, where the soil is sandy, 
deposits them together and covers them up with sand ; but 
where the ground is rocky she drops them indiscriminately 
in any hollow. Mr. Bynoe found seven placed in a line on 
a fissure. The egg is white and spherical; one which I measured 
was seven inches and three- eighths in circumference. The 
inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; 
certainly they do not overhear a person walking close behind 
them. I was always amused when overtaking one of these 
great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how 
suddenly, the instant I paused, it would draw in its head 
and legs, and uttering a deep hiss, fall to the ground with 
a heavy sound as if struck dead. I frequently got on their 
backs, and then, upon giving a few raps on the hinder parts 
of the shell, they would rise up and walk away, but I found 
it very difficult to keep my balance. The flesh of these 
animals is largely employed, both fresh and salted ; and a 
beautiful clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise 
is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin, near its tail, so 
as to see inside its body whether the fat under the dorsal 
plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated; and is 
said to recover soon from this strange operation. In order 
to secure the tortoises it is not sufficient to turn them, like 
turtles, for they are often able to regain their upright position." 
The Turtle. The Green Turtle is the turtle of the famous 
soup. It is a large animal, measuring five or six feet in length 
and weighing from five hundred to six hundred pounds; it 
feeds on sea-weeds and is found in large numbers in the 
seas of warm latitudes. The species from which we get the 
horny substance known as tortoiseshell (Chelonia Imbricata) 
is sometimes called the Hawk's-bill turtle. It is a smaller 
variety, measuring about three feet and belonging to tropical 



334 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

seas. The Leathery Turtle is said to reach eight feet in length 
and a weight of a thousand pounds. The Loggerhead Turtle 
is even larger than this, and sometimes weighs as much as 
fifteen hundred pounds. 
ORDER II. The Crocodile and the Alligator belong 
The Crocodile, respectively to the Eastern and the Western 
Worlds. The former infests the rivers of Africa and Asia, 
one species at least belonging to Australia. Some of the 
best known varieties are those of the river Nile, the Gavial 
of the Ganges being also among the more familiar species. 
These formidable and unwieldy monsters grow to an immense 
size, sometimes attaining to a length of twenty-five feet. 
Their enormous jaws and innumerable sharp teeth (they 
sometimes number a hundred) give them a terrible appear- 
ance, while their hard scaly coats are invulnerable against 
ordinary attack. Their point of weakness is their unwieldy 
character, taking advantage of which the natives will dive 
beneath them and stab them with knives in vulnerable parts. 
The huntsman aims at their eyes as being the nearest approach 
to their brains. Mungo Park relates that one of his guides 
across the river Gambia was suddenly seized by a Crocodile 
and pulled under the water; upon which the negro thrust 
his fingers into the animal's eyes with such violence that it 
quitted its hold, but seizing him again, he resorted to the 
same expedient and with more success, as it again released 
him, appeared stupified, and then swam down the river. 
This man reached the bank bleeding very much, with long 
and deep wounds in his thighs, which incapacitated him for 
travel for six days. The crocodile lays an enormous number 
of eggs on the banks of its native rivers, but most of these 
are prevented from maturing by the birds and animals which 
prey upon them. Mrs. Bowdich tells an amusing story of a 
merchant who packed some crocodiles' eggs in sand for ship- 
ment to England and placed the barrel containing them with 
other goods in his warehouse. Strange and unaccountable 



THE CROCODILE— THE ALLIGATOR. 335 

noises, attracted attention to the spot, when it was discovered 
that the eggs had become hatched and the young crocodiles 
were quite ready to assume the responsibilities of life. The 
natives fled in terror, and the merchant had to take speedy 
measures for destroying his unexpected brood. Some species 
of the crocodile have been tamed or partially so, the sacred 
crocodiles being among these. Accustomed to be fed regularly 
by the same hands they gradually become familiar with their 
priestly attendants, and to some extent obedient to their 
commands. Mungo Park says:— "The crocodiles of the 
Congo appear to be of a smaller species, and not so numerous 
as those at Old Calabar, where they continually float past the 
shipping like large grey pieces of timber, and are so bold 
that they frequently seize people in the small canoes. In 
Old Calabar river, I once observed a crocodile swimming 
with a large cat-fish in its mouth to the opposite shore. It 
held the fish by the head, whilst the body was thrown into 
a perpendicular position. I watched it with the spy-glass 
until it had dragged the fish upon the mud bank, and 
commenced its meal." 

The Alligator. The Alligator of which there are some ten 
or twelve species known, is found exclusively in America. The 
Mississippi Alligator is one of the most familiar of these. 
The Alligator is smaller than the crocodile, which it much 
resembles in form and habit, though specimens have been 
met with which measure twenty-two feet in length. The 
Alligator is naturally most abundant in tropical regions. 
Captain Brown says : " In the height of the dry season in 
torrid regions all animated nature pants with consuming 
thirst. A party of wood cutters, English and Irish, went 
on one occasion to hunt in the neighbourhood of a lake 
called Pies Pond in Beef Island, one of the smaller islands 
of the Bay of Campeachy. To this pond the wild cattle 
repaired in herds to drink, and here the hunters lay in wait 
for them. The chase had been prosecuted with great success 



33 6 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

for a week, when an Irishman of the party going into the 
water during the day, stumbled upon an alligator, which 
seized him by the knee. His cries alarmed his companions, 
who fearing he had been seized by the Spaniards, to whom 
the island belonged, instead of affording assistance, fled from 
the huts which they had erected. The Irishman seeing no 
appearance of help, with happy presence of mind (a quality 
which the natives of that country possess in an eminent 
degree) quietly w r aited till the alligator loosened his teeth to 
take a new and surer hold; and when it did so, snatched 
away his knee, interposing the butt-end of his gun in its 
stead, which the animal seized so firmly that it was jerked 
out of the man's hand and carried off. He then crawled 
up a neighbouring tree, again shouting after his comrades, 
who now found courage to return." Mr. Waterton in his 
" Wanderings" says, " One Sunday evening, some years ago, 
as I was walking with Don Felipe de Ynciarte, governor of 
Augustura, on the bank of the Oroonque, 'Stop here a 
minute or two, Don Carlos/ said he to me, ' while I recount 
a sad accident. One fine evening last year, as the people 
of Augustura were sauntering up and down here, in the 
Alameda, I was within twenty yards of this place, when I 
saw a large Cayman rush out of the river, seize a man, and 
carry him down, before any one had power to assist him. 
The screams of the poor fellow were terrible as the Cayman 
was running off with him; he plunged in the river with his 
prey; we instantly lost sight of him, and never saw or heard 
him more.'" 

A Tame That the Alligator is amenable to kindness is 
Alligator, shown by the following account of a tame specimen, 
which we quote from Mr. Jesse. He says, "The most singulai 
instance of attachment between two animals, whose nature 
and habits were most opposite, was related to me by a 
person on whose veracity I can place the greatest reliance. 
Before he took up his abode at Hamuden-court, he had 



A TAME ALLIGATOR. 337 

resided for nine years in the American States, where he 
superintended the execution of some extensive works for the 
American government. One of these works consisted in the 
erection of a beacon in a swamp in one of the rivers, where 
he caught a young alligator. This animal he made so per- 
fectly tame, that it followed him about the house like a 
dog, scrambling up the stairs after him, and showing much 
affection and docility. Its great favourite, however, was a 
cat, and the friendship was mutual. When the cat was 
reposing herself, before the fire (this was at New York), the 
alligator would lay himself down, place his head upon the 
cat, and in this attitude go to sleep. If the cat was absent, 
the alligator was restless ; but he always appeared happy 
when the cat was near him. The only instance in which 
he showed any ferocity was in attacking a fox, which was 
tied up in the yard. Probably, however, the fox resented 
some playful advances, which the other had made, and thus 
called forth the anger of the alligator. In attacking the fox 
he did not make use of his mouth, but beat him with so 
much severity with his tail, that had not the chain which con- 
fined the fox broken, he would probably have killed him. 
The alligator was fed on raw flesh, and sometimes with milk, 
for which he showed great fondness. In cold weather he was 
shut up in a box, with wool in it ; but having been forgotten 
one frosty night, he was found dead in the morning/' 
ORDER III Order III consists of a large reptile belong- 
Hatteria m g to New Zealand which for anatomical rea- 
Punctata. sons cannot be classed either with the Croco- 
diles or the Lizards. It is rare if not almost extinct, but a 
specimen may be seen in the Natural History Museum. 
ORDER IV. The lizards form an exceedingly numerous 
The Lizards, order. There are many hundreds of different 
species, large and small, of which we can only refer to the 
Chameleon, the Iguana, the common Lizard, and the Monitor. 
The Chameleon. The Chameleon Family belongs to Africa, 

22 



338 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the common variety being otherwise found in central Asia 
and Ceylon. There are several genera and numerous species. 
They live on insects and possess tongues of unusual length, 
furnished with a sticky mucus, which they protrude and re- 
tract with such rapidity and certainty of aim that insects 
are caught and conveyed to the mouth with a speed the 
eye cannot follow. The characteristic for which they are 
most famous is that of changing their colour, a power which 
has doubtless been much exaggerated, but which no less 
surely exists. Mrs. Bowdich describes some she had in her 
possession ; she says, ' ' Mine became green and yellow, as- 
sumed lighter and brighter lines, but I could not see the 
bright blue or red substances on which I put them reflected in 
their skins/' According to M. D'Obsonville, who is quoted 
by Mrs. Bowdich, the original colour is green, the shades of 
which vary according to circumstances. When at liberty, 
and in health, it assumes gradations of brown, red, or light 
grey ; when well-fed and in the open air, if provoked, it 
becomes a blue-green ; but when feeble, or deprived of free 
air, the prevailing tint is yellow-green. If surrounded and 
teased or if one of its own species comes near, it exhibits all 
three tints of green. If dying, especially of hunger, yellow 
first predominates ; and when dead, it is the colour of dead 
leaves. 

The Iguana. The Common Iguana, which sometimes attains 
to a length of five feet, belongs to South America. It is a 
singular-looking animal, but is much esteemed as an article 
of food, its flesh resembling that of chickens. When taken 
young it may be tamed by kindness, but otherwise it is fierce 
when attacked, and its bite is very severe. It is said that the 
natives of the Bahama Islands, who subsist largely on the 
Iguana, sew up their mouths to prevent their biting when they 
wish to keep them alive for a time. 

The Common The Common Lizard and the Sand Lizard are 
Lizard. the varieties found in England. The Common 



THE COMMON LIZARD. 339 

Lizard is the smaller of the two, measuring about six inches, 
the Sand Lizard sometimes attaining to double that length. 
The former frequents green and sunny banks, and is so rapid 
in its movements when disturbed that it is sometimes mistaken 
for a viper. The latter, which frequents sandy heaths and lives 
in burrows, assimilates to the colour of its surroundings. 
The Monitor. The Monitor is the largest of the Lizards, 
sometimes measuring as much as six feet in length. The 
largest of these frequents the Nile, and is known as the Nile 
[Monitor, from the habit attributed to it of signalling the 
presence of crocodiles by a peculiar whistling sound. Dr. 
Abel Smith says, "It is usually met with in rocky precipices, 
or on low, stony hills, and when surprised, seeks conceal- 
ment in the chinks of the former, or in the irregular cavities 
of the latter ; and when any projections exist upon the sur- 
face of the rocks or stones, it clasps them so firmly with its 
toes, that it becomes a task of no small difficulty to dislodge 
it, even though it can be easily reached. Under such cir- 
cumstances the strength of no one man is able to withdraw 
a full-grown individual ; and I have seen two persons re- 
quired to pull a specimen out of a position it had attained, 
even with the assistance of a rope fixed in front of its hin- 
der legs. The moment it was dislodged it flew with fury 
at its enemies, who by flight only saved themselves from 
being bitten. After it was killed, it was discovered that 
the points of all the nails had been broken previously, or 
at the moment it lost its hold. It feeds upon frogs, crabs, 
and small quadrupeds, and, from its partiality to the two 
former, it is often found among rocks near to springs or run- 
ning streams, which fact having been observed by the natives, 
has led them to regard it as sacred, and not to be injured with- 
out danger of drought. ' ' 

ORDER IV- There are hundreds of species of snakes dis- 

Snakes. tributed in different parts of the world, of which 

we can only select a few of the better known for present pur- 



340 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

poses. These are the Viper, the Rattlesnake, the Cobra, the 
Boa Constrictor. 

The Viper. The Viper is found throughout Europe and is 
the only venomous reptile known in England. It feeds on 
frogs, lizards, mice and other small animals, but like many of 
the snake kind often gorges itself and falls a victim to its 
own rapacity. A Viper mentioned in the " Magazine of 
Natural History" swallowed a lizard almost as large as itself, 
with the result that one of the lizard's legs protruded through 
its side. Another Viper came into the possession of Professor 
Bell, which had lost its life through attempting to swallow a 
mouse which was too big for it, the skin of its neck being so 
distended as to burst in several places. The sting of the 
Viper, though venomous, is not nearly so fatal as is com- 
monly supposed. The simplest remedy is suction, a fomen- 
tation, and the application of oil. Vipers are sometimes 
caught by the sudden seizure of the hand, at the neck, where- 
upon the creature opens its mouth to bite its captor who cuts 
off its fangs with a pair of scissors. 

The Viper " 0n Au o ust 4th, 1 776," says Gilbert White, 
and its " we surprised a large viper, which seemed very 
Young. heayy an d bloated, as it lay in the grass basking in 
the sun. When we came to cut it up, we found that the 
abdomen was crowded with young, fifteen in number ; the 
shortest of which measured full seven inches, and were about 
the size of full-grown earth-worms. This little fry issued into 
the world with the true viper-spirit about them, showing 
great alertness as soon as disengaged from the belly of the 
dam : they twisted and wriggled about, and set themselves up, 
and gaped very wide when touched with a stick, showing 
manifest tokens of menace and defiance, though as yet they 
had no manner of fangs that we could find, even with the 
help of our glasses. To a thinking mind nothing is more 
wonderful than that early instinct which impresses young ani- 
mals with a notion of the situation of their natural weapons, 



THE RATTLESNAKE. 341 

and of using them properly in their own defence, even before 
those weapons subsist or are formed. Thus a young cock 
will spar at his adversary before his spurs are grown ; and a 
calf or a lamb will push with their heads before their horns are 
sprouted. ' ' 

The Rattle- The Rattlesnake belongs to America, and many 
snake. exaggerated stories are current concerning it. At 
certain seasons it is very fierce and its bite at all times very dan- 
gerous, but in the ordinary way it will not attack anything but 
the animals it feeds upon, unless molested. It has been tamed 
and kept in cages, one in the possession of Mr. Pierce making 
friends with a toad which was introduced to its cage for the 
purposes of food, and allowed it to take many liberties. 

mi „ . " After the death of this snake," says Mr. 

The Sting J 

of the Pierce, " I examined his fangs ; they were sharp 

Rattle- like a sickle ; a duct led from the reservoir of 

poison at the bottom of the tooth quite through 

its whole length, and terminated just by the point, which was 

exceedingly sharp. Thus, when the fang is darted out it 

makes the puncture, and simultaneously the poison flows 

through the duct, and is deposited in the very bottom of the 

wound. As this rarely fails to touch a blood-vessel, the venom 

is thus instantly issued into the system, and without delay, 

commences the march of death through every vein and artery." 

Mr. Smith in the Philosophical Transactions (1848) says : — 

"If a venomous serpent be made repeatedly to inflict 

wounds, without allowing sufficiently long intervals for it to 

recover its powers, each successive bite becomes less and less 

effective. A gentleman who had a rattlesnake in a cage, put a 

rat in with it ; it immediately struck the rat, which died in 

two minutes. Another rat was then introduced, which ran as 

far as it could from the snake, with cries of distress. In half 

an hour, during which time the snake showed no hostility, on 

being irritated, it struck the rat, which died in twenty minutes. 

A third, and remarkably large rat, was then thrust into the 



342 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

cage, which showed no terror of the snake, and the snake took 

no notice of the rat ; the gentleman, after watching them for 

the whole evening, went to bed, and when he inspected the 

cage the next morning, the snake was dead, and the muscular 

part of its back eaten by the rat. ' ' 

The rattle consists of a number of horny joints which when 

shaken produce the sound by which it is known, and which 

gives notice of the proximity of the snake. 

m , D1 , "The black snake of Central America," says 

The Black ' J 

Snakeandthe Mr. Byam, cc is a deadly enemy to the rattlesnake ; 
Hattlesnake. j t j s next j n s j ze to tne b oa? ^ ut mucn m0 re agile ; 

very vicious and ill-tempered, but not poisonous ; it measures 
from nine to ten feet, and whenever they meet a pitched battle 
ensues, which, if tolerably equal in size, ends in favour of the 
black snake. It is not known whether the) bite each other, 
but, at all events, the poison of the venomous serpent has no 
effect upon his adversary, although a rattlesnake bit itself one 
day, and died of the wound. A black and a rattlesnake were 
each descending opposite banks to drink at a stream a yard 
broad ; the black fellow sprang over the stream, and they in- 
stantly joined in conflict. They twined together, and the 
black snake had evidently most muscular power, so that in 
half an hour the rattlesnake was dead, and the black snake 
swallowed him, gliding into the thicket, double the size he 
was when he came out of it. ' ' 

The Cobra. The Cobra is one of the most venomous of the 
snakes of the East. It is common all over India and Ceylon 
and the Islands of the Archipelago. It attains to a length of 
five or six feet, and feeds on birds, small animals, lizards, frogs, 
toads, and fishes, in the pursuit of which it will ascend trees 
and swim the sea. Notwithstanding its dangerous character, 
the Cobra is the chosen subject of the Indian snake-charmer, 
who keeps it in a basket, until the time for the performance 
and then allows it to creep out to the sounds of a native fife, 
upon hearing which the Cobra immediately expands its beauti- 



THE COBRA. 343 

ful though threatening hood, erects its neck, and commences a 
series of undulating movements, which are continued until the 
sound of the fife ceases, when the snake instantly drops, and is 
replaced in its basket by its master. 

Snake " One morning, as I sat at breakfast," says a 

Charming. W riter in the Penny Magazine, " I heard a loud 
noise and shouting among my palankeen bearers. On enquiry, 
I learned that they had seen a Targe hooded snake, and were 
trying to kill it. I immediately went out, and saw the snake 
creeping up a very high green mound, whence it escaped into 
a hole, in an old wall of an ancient fortification ; the men 
were armed with their sticks, which they always carry in their 
hands, and had attempted in vain to kill the reptile, which had 
eluded their pursuit, and in his hole had coiled himself up 
securely, whilst we could see his bright eyes shining. I had 
often desired to ascertain the truth of the report, as to the effect 
of music upon snakes. I therefore enquired for a snake- 
catcher. There was one about three miles off, and I accord- 
ingly sent for him, keeping a strict watch over the snake, which 
never attempted to escape, whilst we, his enemies, were in 
sight. About an hour elapsed, when my messengers returned, 
bringing a snake-catcher. This man wore no covering on his 
head, nor any on his person, excepting a small piece of cloth 
round his loins ; he had in his hands two baskets, one con- 
taining tame snakes, the other empty ; these, and his musical 
pipe, were the only things he had with him. I made the 
snake-catcher leave his two baskets on the ground, at some 
distance, while he ascended the mound with his pipe alone. 
He began to play ; at the sound of music the snake came grad- 
ually and slowly out of his hole. When he was entirely within 
reach, the snake-catcher seized him dexterously by the tail, 
and held him thus at arm's length, while the snake, enraged, 
darted his head in all directions, but in vain ; thus suspended, 
he has not the power to round himself, so as to seize hold of 
his tormentor. He exhausted himself in vain exertions ; when 



344 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the snake-catcher descended the bank, dropped him into the 
empty basket, and closed the lid, he then began to play, and 
after a short time raising the lid of the basket, the snake darted 
about wildly, and attempted to escape ; the lid was shut down 
again quickly, the music always playing. This was repeated 
two or three times ; and, in a very short interval, the lid being 
again raised, the snake sat on his tail, opened his hood, and 
danced quite as quietly as the tame snakes in the other basket, 
nor did he again attempt to escape. " 

The Cobra as ^ gentleman in India once visited a neighbour- 
Companion ing station for the purpose of taking part in a 
° e a • cricket match, and was hospitably entertained. 
He was put up in a large tent, accompanied by his wife. 
Alter the day's play, at dusk, he went between the canvas walls 
of the tent where his bath was ready. Touching the bath-tub, 
were placed two large earthenware jars, full of cold water, and 
next to them was a brass basin, also containing water, on a 
stand ; the light was burning in the centre of the tent so that 
between the canvas walls was darkness. He stepped into the 
tub, and finding the water too hot, bent down to take up one 
of the cold water jars, but something induced him instinctively 
to refrain. He stayed his hand, at the same time calling out 
to his wife to bring a light, which she did when, to his horror, 
he saw a large cobra coiled round the mouth of the jar, within 
a foot of his naked legs. The sensation can be imagined. To 
move was probably death, to stand still required nerve. Ex- 
perience and courage decided the point, and fixing his eye on 
the reptile, he quietly told his wife to put down the light on 
the ground and get him a stick. The wife, a sensible crea- 
ture, obeyed, leaving her lord in the agonies of suspense as to 
what the snake's next move would be. This was soon settled 
by the reptile uncoiling itself and gliding up the chillumchee 
stand on to the basin, from which it commenced drinking. 
By this time the stick was gently put into the bather's hand, 
who with a well-directed blow cut the snake in half against 



A NIGHT WITH A COBRA. 345 

the edge of the copper basin, thus putting a full stop to a 
thrilling period. 

A Night with I was on a visit during the rainy season, a few 
a Cobra. years ago, says a recent writer, when I slept upon 
an iron bedstead which had two lots of bedding on it. The 
first night I awoke, as I thought with a horrible nightmare, 
feeling the cold slimy body of a snake gliding over my person, 
and imagining myself in the regions described in Milton's 
Paradise Lost, and so wondrously drawn by Dore. I was 
bathed in perspiration, and trembled all over till daylight 
brought relief, and I convinced myself it must have been 
merely a nightmare. But the next night I again awoke in 
terror, feeling the same awful sensation of a cold, clammy body 
gliding gently along my side, and passing with a wriggle over 
my body ; terror preventing me moving. Whether I fainted 
or again fell asleep I have never been able to decide, but at 
daylight I fled from the room and sat cowering in the verandah, 
in a state of mind bordering on insanity. My hostess was in- 
formed of my state, and got me round with a glass of wine. 
Nothing could induce me to re-enter my bedroom. The 
bearer and other domestics were sent for, and headed by the 
mistress of the house, inspected the bed by removing the sheets. 
Nothing was to be seen till one of the servants brushed his leg 
against something soft and cold, and looked down at the junc- 
tion of the two beddings ; he saw the end of a dark-coloured 
tail. A howl from him scattered the servants and made me 
imagine the snake was about to attack me. The valiant ser- 
vants again assembled, and with sticks entered the bedroom 
and poked off the upper bedding, revealing a large hooded 
cobra coiled in the centre, which was eventually despatched 
by blows. 

An Unpleas- A soldier in a regiment stationed at C 

ant Bedfellow. waSj f or disorderly conduct, condemned to pass 
the night in one of the cells. Just as he was going to sleep 
he was startled by hearing a noise, which he knew could only 



346 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

be occasioned by a snake. Instead of jumping up and calling 
to the sentinel for help, and perhaps treading on the snake 
and being bitten by it, he lay perfectly still, knowing that un- 
less disturbed the snake would not hurt him. Presently the 
snake drew its cold slimy body over his bare feet. There are 
few persons who, in a similar condition, would not have drawn 
up their legs with a start, but our hero did not even move. 
Soon the snake began to crawl over his body and even passed 
over his face. The poor soldier hardly dared to breathe. At 
last the reptile coiled itself under his pillow, and when day 
broke our soldier, seizing the stone with which he ought to 
have blocked up the hole by which the snake entered, crushed 
it to death. On being examined, the reptile proved to be of a 
kind whose bite is almost invariably fatal. 

The Boa The Boa Constrictor is one of the largest of the 

Constrictor. sna k e kind. It is not venomous, but is possessed 
of enormous strength which it shows by coiling itself round 
the object of its attack and crushing it into a shapeless mass. 
It belongs to tropical America and feeds on birds, and animals 
of all kinds, not hesitating to attack even the larger quad- 
rupeds. The following account from the pen of Mr. Byam 
will give an idea of the way in which these monsters dispose 
of their prey. 
The Boa and An Englishman and an Indian, travelling to- 

itsPrey. gether through a thick forest, heard a noise like 
the cry of a child in great pain. Pulling out their pistols, and 
tying up their horses, they proceeded to the spot, and there 
saw a boa crushing a young roebuck with short horns. It had 
wound itself twice round its prey, just behind the shoulders, 
one coil lying on the other to increase the weight, and its teeth 
were fastened on the back of the deer's head. The tail was 
twisted twice round a young tree close by. It was too busy to 
observe the strangers ; and the Englishman wished to attack 
it, and save the deer ; but the Indian walked off very gently, 
and made signs to him to follow. When they had regained 



THE BOA AND ITS PREY. 347 

their horses, the Indian said it would have been madness to 
have fought with the irritated animal, and they went their way. 
This was seven in the morning, and they marked the spot by 
notching the trees. At four in the afternoon they again passed 
that way, and found the boa lying straight upon the ground ; 
one of the horns of the roebuck sticking out of a corner of the 
mouth, and the other looking as if it would perforate the neck 
of the snake ; the tail was still coiled round the tree, and the 
middle of the body looked like a nine-gallon cask. A few 
blows of the hunting sword about the tail finished the monster ; 
but when attacked, it tried to throw up the deer/' The boa 
has been known to measure upwards of twenty- five feet, though 
commonly not exceeding eighteen feet. 
The Boa's Captain Heyland thus describes a boa which 
Appetite, was in his possession for some time : — l ' The ani- 
mal was brought to me early in January, and did not taste food 
from that time until the July following. During this period 
he generally drank a quart of water daily. The man who 
brought him stated, that he had been seen to eat a hog deer 
the day before he was taken. He was allowed to be at liberty 
in the grounds about my house. One evening early in July, 
hearing a noise, I went out, and discovered that the snake had 
left his harbour, under the boards of a stable where he generally 
lay ; and having entered a small shed in which some fowls 
were roosting, had swept eleven from the perch, and destroyed 
them by pressing them between his folds. Then taking them 
one by one, head foremost into his mouth, swallowed the whole 
down in twenty minutes. The largest animal that he ate while 
in my possession was a calf, which he killed and gorged in 
two hours and twenty minutes. He never attacked dogs, cats, 
or pigs. Of these last, indeed, he seemed to be in dread, for, 
whenever one was presented to him, he retired to a corner, and 
coiled himself up, with his head undermost. If fed with ani- 
mals not larger than a duck, he ate readily every day ; but 
after the meal of a goat, refused food for a month." 



348 ■ NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

A Terrible Not many years ago, says a writer in " Chums, " 
Boa. a boa escaped from a menagerie at Grenoble, and 
disappeared without leaving a trace. A few days afterwards a 
certain Monsieur Flisson went on a visit to Beauregard along 
with a friend, who accompanied him on an excursion among 
the romantic hills and rocks in that part of the country. At a 
particularly interesting spot he tarried behind his friend, and, 
in order to enjoy the glorious prospect, sat down on what ap- 
peared to be a stone covered with soft moss. It was eight 
o'clock in the evening, and M. Flisson, though shortsighted, 
was a man of prodigious strength. This was lucky for him, 
for the stone now began to move under him, stretched itself 
out with the elasticity of a spring, and lifted him several feet 
from the ground. M. Flisson had sat down on the boa. Be- 
fore he had time to recover his presence of mind, he felt him- 
self rolling downwards. The serpent had curled his tail round 
a tree- trunk, and Flisson held its head firmly grasped between 
his hands. A strange and terrible struggle ensued. The boa, 
securely fastened to the tree, pulled upwards, and Flisson, 
still clinging with herculean strength to the head of the crea- 
ture, found himself at last swinging over a precipice of about 
seventy feet in depth, as though suspended by a rope. In 
this terrible situation he remained ten minutes, until his friend, 
with the assistance of a few countrymen, came to his relief. 
A Narrow ^ r - Byam's book contains many interesting 

Escape. anecdotes of the experiences of travellers of which 
the following snake story is one. 

" Two travellers passed a hillock in a marsh, and heard some 
groans proceeding from a man on the top of it. Earnestly 
beckoned to approach, they at first hesitated, thinking it might 
be a contrivance to entice them into danger. They, however, 
went near, and the man told them that, while asleep, a snake 
had crept up his loose drawers, and was then lying on his 
stomach, and from what he had seen of it, he believed it to be 
a Coral-snake, one of the deadliest of the western serpents. 



A NARROW ESCAPE. 349 

He had nothing on but his drawers and a short cloak. The 
travellers saw the form of the snake under the drawers ; they 
dismounted, put on thick gloves, took a pair of scissors, cut 
very carefully through the drawers till they came to the head 
of the animal, still fast asleep, and then one of them seized it 
by the neck, and so released the poor man. It was nearly 
three feet long, as thick as a walking-stick, coral-red in colour, 
with yellow rings. The poor man said he had passed two or 
three hours in that dangerous situation, which appeared as long 
as weeks, and had called to two or three passers-by, who had 
all avoided him, from the supposition that it was the decoy of 
a marauding Indian. He was completely unmanned, and his 
strength was prostrated by his apprehensions. ' ' 



NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 
VERTEBRATA. 

CLASS I V— B A T R A C H I A . 

The Class IV of the Vertebrata comprises the Batra- 

Batrachia. c hia which are divided into three orders : I Pseu- 
dophidia, II Urodela, III Anura. The first order comprises 
the limbless worm-like reptiles of the genus Caecilia of Africa 
and South America ; the second includes the Newts and the 
Salamanders ; the third the Frogs and the Toads. Leaving 
the first two orders, we devote a few lines to the third, dealing 
with the Toad, the Common Frog and the Tree Frog. The 
members of this order are singular for the extraordinary changes 
through which they pass between birth and maturity. As Tad- 
poles, in which form they first reach life, they have thick black 
legless bodies ending in tapering tails, and are provided with 
the fishlike anatomy necessary to an aquatic existence. In the 
process of development they completely change both in internal 
arrangement and external appearance. The gills are exchanged 
for lungs, the legs supersede the tail and the internal system 
undergoes corresponding change. In the end the animal be- 
comes semi-aquatic, capable of living under water for some 
time, but compelled to come to the surface for air at intervals ; 
and also of living out of the water altogether in such places as 
afford sufficient moisture, damp being as necessary to their 
comfort as food and air. They hybernate in the winter and 
propagate in the spring ; and in times of drought burrow into 
the earth and remain lethargic until rain falls. They feed on 

350 



THE BATRACHIA. 35 T 

insects and slugs for which they have a voracious appetite. 
Their tongues, which like those of the chameleon and other 
insect eaters, are furnished with a sticky mucus to which in- 
sects adhere, — when in repose, turn inwards towards the throat 
and the act of catching flies and other insects is simply that of 
flapping the tongue out and in again, an act performed with 
such rapidity as to almost escape observation. 
The Common The toad is found in all temperate and torrid 
Toad. climes. It hides in damp secluded places during 
the day, emerging in search of food at night, or after the fall 
of rain. Though voracious in its appetite, it can accommo- 
date itself to circumstances and can subsist with little food if its 
abode be damp. Failing food and damp, it has yet another 
resource, namely that of sleep, or torpor, in which condition 
it can lay by and wait for better times. Under such circum- 
stances the toad naturally lives a long life and survives condi- 
tions usually fatal. The voracity of the toad is attested by the 
following incident furnished by Captain Brown. " A gentle- 
man who resides at Keswick, Cumberland, one evening in the 
latter end of July, observed a rustling among the strawberries 
in his garden, and on examining what it was, found that a 
toad had just seized a field-mouse, which had got on the 
toad's back, scratching and biting to get released, but in vain. 
The toad kept his hold, and as the strength of the mouse failed, 
he gradually drew the unfortunate little animal into his mouth, 
and gorged him." 

Tame Toads. The toad may be easily tamed. Mr. Wood 
tells of one which lived with a family for years and was in the 
habit oi supping on a piece of sugar. The story of the Duke 
of Wellington and the tame toad deserves telling in this con- 
nection. The Duke of Wellington was one day taking his 
usual country walk, when he heard a cry of distress. He 
walked to the spot, and found a chubby, rosyfaced boy lying 
on the ground, and bending his head over a tame toad, and 
crying as if his little heart would break. Enquiry elicited the 



352 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

fact that the boy was about to be sent to boarding school and 
that he was afraid the toad lacking his attention would die in 
his absence. The duke promised to look after the toad and 
apprise the boy from time to time of its condition. During 
the time he was at school he received five letters couched in 
the following terms : — Strathfieldsaye, July 27, 1837. " Field 
Marshal the Duke of Wellington is happy to inform William 
Harries that his toad is alive and well." When the boy re- 
turned for his Christmas holidays, the toad was as the duke 
said, "Alive and well," but, in accordance with the usual 
habits of these animals, he was in his winter's sleep, in which 
he remained until spring and genial weather brought him 
from his well-guarded hole in the ground. 

The ^he Common Frog (Rana Temporarid) is now 

Common found all over the British Isles. Formerly un- 
og * known in Ireland it was introduced there about 
the year 1 700 and has since spread all over the country. The 
frog is more sociable than the toad and is often seen and heard 
in large numbers ; his habits however are very similar and his 
mode of seizing his prey the same. The Edible Frog belongs 
to Europe, where it is used as an article of food and is not 
found in England. The Bull Frog is an Indian variety and 
attains to a great size. The American Bull Frog is also an in- 
teresting species. 

The ^ r * J esse gi yes tne following illustration of the 

Ingenuity of ingenuity of the Frog : " I may mention a curi- 

the Frog. ous observation made in regard to some frogs that 
had fallen down a small area, which gave light to one of the 
windows of my house. The top of the area being on a level 
with the ground, was covered with some iron bars, through 
which the frogs fell. During dry and warm weather, when 
they could not absorb much moisture, I observed them to ap- 
pear almost torpid ; but when it rained they became impatient 
of their confinement, and endeavoured to make their escape, 
which they did in the following manner. The wall of the 



THE FROG. 353 

area was about five feet in height, and plastered and white- 
washed, as smooth as the ceiling of a room. Upon this sur- 
face the frogs soon found that their claws would render them 
little or no assistance ; they therefore contracted their large 
feet, so as to make a hollow in the centre, and by means of the 
moisture which they had imbibed in consequence of the rain, 
they contrived to produce a vacuum, so that by the pressure 
of the air on the extended feet (in the same way that we see 
boys take up a stone by means of a piece of wet leather fastened 
to a string), they ascended the wall and made their escape. 
This happened constantly in the course of three years." 
The Tree The Tree Frog of which there are numerous 
Frog. varieties belongs to both East and West occurring 
in China and Japan as well as in North and South America. 
It is not found in England. Mr. Gosse says : " They are 
very numerous in the damp woods of tropical America, and 
reside by day in the tofts of those parasitical plants, which 
form reservoirs for rain-water. The under-surface of their 
bodies is very different to that of the terrestrial species ; for the 
skin, instead of being smooth, is covered with granular glands, 
pierced by numerous pores, through which the dew or rain, 
spread on the surface of the leaves, is rapidly absorbed into the 
system, and reserved to supply the moisture needful for cutane- 
ous respiration. The males make the woods resound through- 
out the night with their various cries, and, mingled with the 
shrill chirping of insects, quite banish sleep from the stranger's 
eyes." 



23 



NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 
VERTEBRATA. 

CLASS V— PISCES. 

Fishes. We now come to the fifth and last class of the 
Vertebrata, a class so large that it is impossible to deal ade- 
quately with it in a single volume of ordinary size, much less 
in a single section of one treating of the whole of the verte- 
brates. There are said to be 10,000 species, so that a book 
which devoted one page to each would make an enormous vol- 
ume. All that can be done here is to deal with a few of the 
better known species, as far as possible selecting types of orders 
without attempting to follow closely any classification. Giinther 
divides the Fishes into six sub-classes, which are further ar- 
ranged in thirteen orders. The first of these orders includes 
the Sticklebacks, the Perches, the Mullets, the Gurnards, the 
Mackerel and the Swordfish besides others. Of these we can 
deal with but two or three. 

The The Stickleback is associated with the earliest 

Sticklebacks, efforts of the youthful angler, and most of us can 
remember capturing specimens of some fresh-water variety, in 
the days of childhood, and carrying them home in triumph in 
a bottle. There are a number of species of the stickleback, 
some living in fresh water and some being marine. They are 
extremely voracious and it is a good job for a large number of 
other living things that they are no bigger than they are. They 
are also very pugnacious and fight among themselves with great 
determination. The Stickleback is about an inch and a half 

354 



THE STICKLEBACKS. 355 

in length and is furnished with spines which it uses with great 
effect when fighting with its enemies. 

The stickle- ^ r> J onn Stark who experimented with some 
back and the sticklebacks and leeches some years ago gives the 
following description of his experiences. 
" On putting the leeches into the water, the stickleback 
darted round the tumbler with lively motions till it found a 
leech detached, and in a proper situation for being seized. 
When the leech was very small, say about half an inch in 
length, it was often swallowed at once before it reached the 
bottom of the vessel, but when a larger one, about an inch, 
or an inch and a half in length in its expanded state, was put 
in, and had fastened itself by its mouth to the glass, the efforts 
of the stickleback to seize and tear it from its hold, were inces- 
sant, and never failed to succeed. It darted at the loose ex- 
tremity, or, when both ends were fastened, at the curve in its 
middle, seized it in its mouth, rose to near the surface, and 
after a hearty shake (such as a dog would give a rat) let it 
drop. The leech, who evidently wished to avoid its enemy 
upon its release again, attached itself by its mouth to the 
glass ; but again and again the attack was repeated, till the 
poor leech became exhausted, and ceased to attempt holding 
itself by its disc. The stickleback then seized it by the head 
in a proper position for swallowing, and after a few gulps the 
leech disappeared. The flattened leech being of an oval form, 
and having a hard skin, was not attacked, unless when very 
young, and small ; and leeches of the other species when pretty 
well grown, or larger than himself when expanded, were killed 
in the manner above mentioned, but not swallowed, In one 
of his attempts to seize a leech, the stickleback having got it 
by the tail, the animal curled back and fixed its disc upon his 
snout. The efforts of the stickleback to rid himself of this en- 
cumbrance were amusing. He let go his hold of the leech, 
which then hung over his mouth, and darting at the bottom 
and sides of the glass with all his strength, endeavoured to rub 



356 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

off this tantalizing morsel. This lasted for nearly a minute, 
when at last he got rid of the leech by rubbing his back upon 
the bottom of the vessel. The leech, perfectly aware of the 
company he was in, no sooner loosed his hold, than he at- 
tempted to wriggle away from his devourer ; but before he had 
reached mid-way up the tumbler, the stickleback had turned 
and finished the contest by swallowing him up/' 

The The mackerel is one of the most useful as well 

Mackerel. as one f the most beautiful of familiar fishes. It 
measures from twelve to twenty inches and weighs from one 
and a half to two or three pounds. It is elegant of form and 
brilliant of colour, as well as agreeable as an article of food. 
Mackerel visit the coast of England in vast shoals at certain 
seasons, but retire to deep seas for the winter. They are ex- 
ceedingly voracious, and prey upon the herrings ; Captain 
Brown tells a story of a number of mackerel fastening on to a 
sailor who had plunged into their midst for a bath. The man 
was rescued by his comrades, but he died soon after from loss 
of blood. 

The The sword-fish is a formidable member of this 

Sword-fish, order. It is found in the Mediterranean, and the 
Atlantic, and sometimes visits the English coast. It has been 
known to measure ten feet or more without the sword, with 
which it attains even to a length of fifteen feet. It attacks 
other large fish and is a great enemy to the whale, which it 
charges with great force and destructive effect. It is said some- 
times to mistake the hull of a ship for the body of a Whale and 
to charge it accordingly, with the result that it leaves its sword 
fixed in the ship's timbers as the bee leaves its sting in human 
flesh. The sword of this fish is formed by the elongation of 
its upper jaw and some idea of the force with which it can be 
used may be gained from the fact that one found in the hull 
of a ship at Liverpool and described by Scoresby had pene- 
trated a sheet of copper, an oak plank two and a half inches in 
thickness, a solid oak timber of seven and a half inches, and 



THE SWORD-FISH. 357 

another plank also of two inches. " The position of the bone 
was at the distance of four feet horizontally from the stern, and 
two feet below the surface of the water when the vessel was 
afloat. Hence, it appeared, that when the ship had been in 
rapid progress through the water, she had been met with and 
struck by a sword-fish advancing in an opposite direction, by 
the shock of which, or by the action of the water forced past 
the body of the animal by the vessel's progress, the snout had 
been broken off and detached. The blow, though it must 
have been singularly forcible, was not observed by any person 
in the ship. Had the bone been withdrawn, the vessel would 
probably have foundered/' Mr. Wood says in one instance, a 
sword-fish attacking a whaling-ship, drove its weapon " through 
the copper sheathing, an inchboard sheathing, a three-inch 
plank of hard wood, the solid white oak timber of the ship 
twelve inches thick, through another two-and-a-half inch hard 
oak ceiling plank, and lastly, perforated the head of an oil- 
cask, where it still remained immovably fixed, so that not a 
single drop of oil escaped." 

The Cod. The third order of Dr. Giinther's classification 

includes many of the more familiar fishes. Here we find the 
Cod, the Haddock, the Place, the Flounder, the Halibut, the 
Turbot, the Brill and the Sole. Of these we will take the Cod 
as representative. The Cod is one of the most prolific of fish. 
Enormous quantities are caught and consumed every year and 
yet the number seems to increase rather than decrease. This 
is accounted for by the fact, that the spawn of one fish will 
sometimes contain nine millions of eggs. The Cod frequents 
the deep seas of the temperate and colder climes, not being 
found in any quantities north of Iceland, or South of Gibraltar. 
They are found chiefly in the Northern Atlantic, where exten- 
sive fisheries are carried on, but they are also caught in the 
Forth of Firth at the mouth of which some of the best are 
taken. The Cod grows very rapidly and often to a great size. 
One is said to have been caught off Scarborough many years 



358 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

ago which weighed seventy-eight pounds and measured five 
feet eight inches in length. They feed on herrings, sprats, 
mollusca, worms, and small shell fish, are very voracious, and 
have excellent digestions. Captain Brown killed one at Kil- 
lough, Co. Down, Ireland, in which he found upward of fifty 
small crabs, and other testaceous and crustaceous animals. 
The Cod fisheries find employment for a large number of peo- 
ple and are a great source of profit. The flesh is highly valued 
as an article of diet, and the liver for the properties of the oil 
which it produces, while other parts are used for various pur- 
poses. 

The Salmon. In the Fourth order of Dr. Giinther's classifica- 
tion we find the Salmon, the Trout, the Pike, the Flying Fish, 
the Carp, the Roach, the Chub, the Herring, the Sardine, the 
Anchovy, the Gymnotus and the Eel, besides other fish. Of 
these the Salmon takes easy precedence. Izaak Walton called 
it " the King of fresh-water fish/' and many have accorded it 
the first place among its kind for the delicacy of its flavour. It 
is of migratory habits, leaving the sea in the autumn and as- 
cending rivers for the purpose of depositing its spawn, and re- 
turning to the sea in the spring. In seeking suitable places 
for its purpose the salmon brooks no obstacle, leaping with 
great vigour the rapids and falls that impede its course even 
though they may sometimes exceed eight or ten feet in height. 
Curving the body until it forms a circular spring, it strikes the 
water with great force, throwing itself forward and thus lifting 
itself over rocks and weirs. In the shallow gravelly pools which 
they find towards the source of rivers, Salmon form hollows in 
which they spawn, covering it up with the loose sand they ex- 
cavate in the process. The eggs deposited in the later months 
of the autumn are hatched in the earlier months of Spring and 
by the end of May the whole of the young fish have followed 
their parents to the sea. 

The Pike. The Pike, — fierce, strong, and voracious, — 
holds his own in the rivers of both the old and the new Worlds. 



THE SALMON. 359 

It has been known to attack a man when its retreat has been 
cut off ; to bite the legs of bathers, and to snap at the fingers 
of persons cooling their hands in the water ; and when pressed 
with hunger, to fight an otter for the possession of a carp, 
which the latter had caught. Its strength and endurance have 
often been demonstrated in the destruction of strong tackle and 
in its power to survive, without apparent inconvenience with 
hooks and wires mingling with its anatomy. Captain Brown 
gives an instance of a pike being caught, which had a strong 
piece of twisted wire projecting from its side. It was in excel- 
lent condition, and on being opened, discovered in its stomach 
a double eel hook, much corroded, and attached to the pro- 
truding wire. Another pike when caught, in the river Ouse, 
was found in possession of a watch with a black ribbon and 
seals attached ; property which it was afterwards discovered had 
belonged to a gentleman's servant who had been drowned. 
The pike has often been caught with portions of tackle broken 
from the line in former engagements hanging from the mouth. 
Its rapacity is extraordinary. Eight-hundred gudgeon are said 
to have been consumed in three weeks by eight pike of not 
more than five pounds weight each. " The appetite of one 
of my pike/' says Mr. Jesse, " was almost insatiable. One 
morning I threw to him one after the other, five roach, each 
about four inches in length. He swallowed four of them, and 
kept the fifth in his mouth for about a quarter of an hour, 
when it also disappeared/' The pike attains to large propor- 
tions and to a great age. When less than two pounds weight 
it is called a jack, but it has been known to attain to sixty or 
seventy pounds weight, and if all records be true, to more than 
a hundred years of age. Gesner mentions a pike caught in 
standing water at Heilbroon, in Suabia in 1497 which had a 
ling round its head with an inscription in Greek which ran 
somewhat as follows : "I am the first fish that was launched 
into this pond, and was thrown in by Frederick the Second, 
emperor of the Romans, on the fifth of October, 1230/' If 



360 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

this be true, the pike was two hundred and fifty- seven years 
old at the time of its capture, when it is said to have weighed 
three hundred and fifty pounds. 

The Herring. Probably no living thing of its size is equal to 
the herring in its value to man. It visits the northern coasts of 
England and Scotland in vast shoals, of several miles in extent, 
in the autumn of the year, heralded by sea gulls and followed 
by dog-fish, both of whom take toll as it proceeds. The an- 
nual produce of these little fish is beyond all calculation. The 
Scotch fisheries are credited with the capture of over four hun- 
dred millions a year, while those of Norway can scarcely be 
much less successful. The Swedish fisheries are said to cap- 
ture nearly double that number, to which must be added those 
taken by the English, Irish, Dutch, French, and German fish- 
eries before the grand total can be reached. The enormous 
number of hands employed in these various fisheries, to say 
nothing of the capital invested in them, marks them out as 
one of the most important of European enterprises. 
The Flying The Flying fish is about the size of a herring, 
Fish. anc [ i s furnished with strong pectoral fins, almost 
the length of its body, by which it is able to spring out of the 
water and sustain itself for a time in the air. It has apparently 
no power of guiding itself, or of varying its altitude while in 
the lighter element, both the height and the course of its flight 
being determined by the direction and the force of its spring. 
Its ordinary flight is about three feet above the surface of the 
water, and of no very great distance or duration, but it has 
been known to fly as high as fourteen or fifteen feet, and even 
higher, and a distance of over two hundred yards. Flying 
fish often fall upon the decks of ships, where they are wel- 
comed as affording a pleasant variety to the sailors' menu. 
They frequent warmer latitudes, but are sometimes seen off 
the English coast. They leave the sea to escape the larger 
fish which prey upon them, only too often, to fall a prey to 
the fowls of the air. 



THE EEL. 36] 

The Eel. The Eel from its general resemblance to the 

snake is not usually a favourite when alive, however popular 
it may be with the palate, when served up with suitable acces- 
sories at table. It is however full of interest as a study, and 
shows many remarkable characteristics and traits. It migrates 
from the river to the sea in the Autumn to produce its young, 
thus reversing the order of procedure of the salmon. Mr. 
Jesse, writing of these migrations as observed by him in the 
Thames many years ago, says: " An annual migration of 
young eels takes place in the river Thames in the month of 
May, and they have generally made their appearance at King- 
ston, in their way upwards, about the second week in that 
month. These young eels are about two inches in length, 
and they make their approach in one regular and undeviating 
column of about five inches in breadth, and as thick together 
as it is possible for them to be. As the procession generally 
lasts two or three days, and as they appear to move at the rate 
of nearly two miles and a half an hour, some idea may be 
formed of their enormous number. Sir Humphry Davy 
says, in his " Salmonia, " — "There are two migrations of 
eels, one from and the other io the sea ; the first in spring and 
summer, and the second in autumn, or early in winter. The 
first of very small eels, which are sometimes not more than two 
and a half inches long ; the second of large eels, which some- 
times are three or four feet long, and weigh from fifteen to 
twenty pounds. There is great reason to believe, that all eels 
found in fresh water are the results of the first migration ; they 
appear in millions in April and May, and sometimes continue 
to rise as late as July, and the beginning of August. They 
feed, grow, and fatten in fresh water. In small rivers, they 
are seldom very large ; but, in large deep lakes, they become 
as thick as a man's arm, or even leg ; and all those of a con- 
siderable size attempt to return to the sea in October or Novem- 
ber, probably when they experience the cold of the first au- 
tumnal rains/' Mr. St. John thus describes some young 



362 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

Eels which he saw ascending the river Findhorn : " When 
they came to a fall, which they could not possibly ascend, 
they wriggled out of the water, and gliding along the rock, 
close to the edge, where the stone was constantly wet from the 
splashing and spray of the fall, they made their way up till 
they got above the difficulty, and then again slipping into the 
water, continued their course." The eel is voracious, and 
will leave the water in search of frogs and other food. It 
will attack, and appropriate, young ducks, and one is said to 
have been caught near Bootle with two rats in its stomach. 
The Conger Eel grows to a great size and attains great weight. 
It is said sometimes to measure eight or even ten feet, and to 
weigh a hundred pounds or even more. It is plentiful in the 
English Channel, and on the coast of Cornwall. 

The The Gymnotus is the famous electric eel, and 

Gymnotus. lik e the Torpedo of the English Channel and the 
Mediterranean, has the ability of communicating a powerful 
electric shock. It belongs to the Amazon and other South 
American rivers, and their tributaries, and is well known to 
American Indians. Humboldt describes the shock produced 
by this creature, as exceeding in strength that of a large Leyden 
jar. Having imprudently placed his foot on one just taken 
from the water he received such a shock that he says, " I was 
affected the rest of the day with violent pains in the knees, and 
in almost every joint." 
Catching the The following vivid description of a Gymnotus 

Gymnotus. hunt is given by Humboldt : " We at first wished 
to make our experiments in the house we inhabited at Cala- 
bozo ; but the dread of the electrical shocks of the gymnoti is 
so exaggerated among the vulgar, that during three days we 
could not obtain one, though they are easily caught, and 
though we had promised the Indians two piastres for every 
strong and vigorous fish. 

" Impatient of waiting, and having obtained very uncertain 
results from an electrical eel that had been brought to us 



CATCHING THE GYMNOTUS. 363 

alive, but much enfeebled, we repaired to the Cano de Bcra, 
to make our experiments in the open air, on the borders of the 
water itself. We set off on the 19th of March for the village 
of Rastro de Abaxo, thence we were conducted to a stream, 
which, in the time of drought, forms a basin of muddy water, 
surrounded by fine trees. To catch the gymnoti with nets is 
very difficult, on account of the extreme agility of the fish, 
which bury themselves in the mud like serpents. We would 
not employ the &arbasco, that is to say, the roots of Piscidea 
erythrina and Jacquinia armillaris, which, when thrown into 
the pool, intoxicate or benumb these animals. These means 
would have enfeebled the gymnoti ; the Indians therefore told 
us, that they would 4 fish with horses. ' We found it difficult 
to form an idea of this extraordinary manner of fishing ; but 
we soon saw our guides return from the Savannah, which they 
had been scouring for wild horses and mules. They brought 
about thirty with them, which they forced to enter the pool. 

" The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' hoofs makes 
the fish issue from the mud, and excites them to combat. 
These yellowish and livid eels resemble large aquatic serpents, 
swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies 
of the horses and mules. A contest between animals of so 
different an organization furnishes a very striking spectacle. 
The Indians, provided with harpoons and long slender reeds, 
surround the pool closely ; and some climb upon the trees, 
the branches of which extend horizontally over the surface of 
the water. By their wild cries, and the length of their reeds, 
they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the 
bank of the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend 
themselves by the repeated discharge of their electric batteries. 
During a long time they seem to prove victorious. Several 
horses sink beneath the violence of the invisible strokes which 
they receive from all sides, in organs the most essential to life ; 
and stunned by the force and frequency of the shocks, dis- 
appear under the water. Others, panting, with their mane 



364 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

standing erect, and wild looks, expressing anguish, raise them- 
selves and endeavour to flee from the storms by which they 
are overtaken. They are driven back by the Indians into the 
middle of the water ; but a small number succeeds in eluding 
the active vigilance of the fishermen. These regain the shore, 
stumbling at every step, and stretch themselves on the sand, 
exhausted with fatigue, and their limbs benumbed by the 
electric shock of the gymnoti. 

" In less than five minutes two horses were drowned. The 
eel, being five feet long, and pressing itself against the belly 
of the horses, makes a discharge along the whole extent of its 
electric organs. It attacks at once the heart, the intestines, 
and the plexus coeliacus of the abdominal nerves. It is nat- 
ural, that the effect felt by the horses should be more powerful 
than that produced upon men by the touch of the same fish at 
any one of his extremities. The horses are probably not 
killed, but only stunned. They are drowned from the impos- 
sibility of rising from amid the prolonged struggle between the 
other horses and the eels. 

" We had little doubt, that the fishing would terminate by 
killing successively all the animals engaged ; but by degrees 
the impetuosity of this unequal combat diminished, and the 
wearied gymnoti dispersed. They require a long rest, and 
abundant nourishment, to repair what they have lost of gal- 
vanic force. The mules and horses appear less frightened ; 
their manes are no longer bristled, and trreir eyes express less 
dread. The Indians assured us, that when the horses are 
made to run two days successively into the same pool, none 
are killed the second day. The gymnoti approach timidly the 
edge of the marsh, when they are taken by means of small 
harpoons fastened to long cords. When the cords are very 
dry, the Indians feel no shock in raising the fish into the air. 
In a few minutes we observed five eels, the greater part of 
which were but slightly wounded. Some were taken by the 
same means towards the evening. 



CATCHING THE GYMNOTUS. 365 

" The temperature of the water in which the gymnoti ha- 
bitually live is about 86 degrees of Fahrenheit. Their electric 
force, it is said, diminishes in colder waters. The gymnotus 
is the largest of electrical fishes. I measured some that were 
from four feet to five feet three inches long ; and the Indians 
assert, that they have seen them still larger. We found that a 
fish of three feet ten inches long weighed twelve pounds. The 
transverse diameter of the body was three inches five lines. 
The gymnoti of Cano do Bera are of a fine olive green colour. 
The under part of the head is yellow, mingled with red. Two 
rows of small yellow spots are placed symmetrically along the 
back, from the head to the end of the tail. Every spot con- 
tains an excretory aperture. In consequence the skin of the 
animal is constantly covered with a mucous matter, which, as 
Volta has proved, conducts electricity twenty or thirty times 
better than pure water. It is somewhat remarkable, that no 
electrical fish yet discovered in the different parts of the world, 
is covered with scales. 

" It would be rashness to expose ourselves to the first shocks 
of a very large and strongly irritated gymnotus. If by chance 
you receive a stroke before the fish is wounded, or wearied by 
a long pursuit, the pain and numbness are so violent, that it 
is impossible to describe the nature of the feeling they excite. 
I do not remember having ever received from the discharge of 
a large Ley den jar, a more dreadful shock than that which I 
experienced by imprudently placing both my feet on a gym- 
notus just taken out of the water/ ' 

The Torpedo. It would be difficult to name two fish more 
dissimilar in outward appearance than the Gymnotus and the 
Torpedo, and yet they enjoy in common the unique power of 
communicating electric shocks. The Gymnotus is a long eel- 
like fish, the Torpedo is round and flat. The Torpedo be- 
longs to the family of the Rays, and sometimes reaches a large 
size. It is common in the Mediterranean and is sometimes 
found on the southern coasts of the British Isles. 



366 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

" Although it has once or twice been caught on our coasts, " 
says Mr. Wood, "it is usually found in the Mediterranean, 
where its powers are well known, and held in some awe. 
The shock that the Torpedo gives, of course, varies according 
to the size of the fish and its state of health, but a tolerably 
large fish in good health can, for the time, disable a strong 
man. From the effects of its shock, it is in some parts called 
the Cramp-fish. It has been known to weigh from seventy to 
a hundred pounds." 

The Shark. The Shark, whose name instinctively suggests 
a shudder, is the largest of the fishes and one of the largest of 
marine animals. There are many varieties, and they are found 
in all seas ; some measuring no more than a few feet, others 
attaining to very large proportions. The Blue Shark of the 
Mediterranean which measures about eleven feet sometimes 
approaches the south coast of England and Ireland, as does 
the Hammer-headed Shark of the Atlantic and the Indian 
Ocean, a shark of twelve feet in length. The Tope a smaller 
variety is often seen in the English Channel, as are also several 
others of the smaller Sharks. The Great Basking Shark which 
often measures thirty feet in the length is the largest of those 
which visit the English coast, but like the largest of all the 
sharks (Rhinodon Typicus) which sometimes exceeds fifty feet 
in length is herbivorous, and therefore not bloodthirsty. 

The White The Shark known to sailors as the White Shark 
Shark. j s a fierce and sanguinary creature. It frequents 
the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it follows 
ships for days for the sake of the refuse, which is thrown over- 
board. This creature has been known to swallow a man en- 
tire, and commonly to devour one in two or three portions. 
Sailors get no mercy from the shark and consequently show 
him none. There is a story told of a negro cook who seeing 
a shark follow in the wake of a ship made a brick hot in the 
stove, and then threw it to the monster who probably never 
had a warmer or more indigestible meal. This shark suffered 



THE WHITE SHARK. 367 

great agony if its contortions may be taken as evidence, and, 
after exhausting itself with its fury, allowed itself to drift away 
with the tide. Expert swimmers, armed with long sharp 
knives, have sometimes engaged the shark single-handed, diving 
underneath it, and stabbing it before it discovered their where- 
abouts. The Negroes of the West Indies are credited with 
this hardihood, and are said to be frequently successful. 
Sharks in "The amphibious South Sea Islanders," says 
the South Mr. Wood, " stand in great dread of the Shark, 
and with good reason, for not a year elapses with- 
out several victims falling to the rapacity of this terrific animal. 
Nearly thirty of the natives of the Society Islands were de- 
stroyed at one time by the sharks. A storm had so injured 
the canoe in which they were passing from one island to an- 
other, that they were forced to take refuge on a raft hastily 
formed of the fragments of their canoe. Their weight sunk 
the raft a foot or two below the surface of the water, and, 
dreadful to say, the sharks surrounded them and dragged 
them off the raft one by one, until the lightened raft rose 
above the water and preserved the few survivors." Mrs. 
Bowdich, who was an eye-witness of the tragic circumstances 
she describes, says : — " Sharks abounded at Cape Coast, and 
one day, as I stood at a window commanding a view of the 
sea, I saw some of the inhabitants of the town bathing, and 
the sharks hastening to seize upon them, — they being visible 
from always swimming with part of their dorsal fin out of 
water. I sent to warn the men of their danger, and all came 
ashore except one, who laughed at the caution of his compan- 
ions. A huge shark was rapidly approaching, and I sent my 
servant again, and this time armed with half a bottle of rum, 
to bribe the man to save himself. It was too late, the mur- 
derous creature had seized him, and the water around was dyed 
with his blood. A canoe was dispatched to bring him ashore, 
but a wave threw him on to the beach ; and it was found that 
the shark had taken the thigh bone completely out of the 



368 NATURAL HISTORY IN AXECDOTE. 

socket. The man, of course, expired in a very few minutes. 
Accidents were often happening, and always fatal, and yet the 
negroes, who seldom think beyond the present moment, could 
not be dissuaded from bathing. A man walking in the sea, 
up to his knees, was dragged away by one, almost before my 
eyes." 

The Rays. The Rays are large flat fish of which there are 
numerous species, the Thornback and the Common Skate 
being the best known. They have large pectoral fins, and 
some species grow to an enormous size. The Skate has been 
known to measure six or seven feet. Other species are the 
Homelyn Ray and the Sandy Ray, which like the Thornback 
and the Skate are found in British waters. The Sting Ray 
and the Eagle Ray cover wider areas and grow to a gigantic 
size in tropic seas. It is a large species of the Eagle Ray that 
is known as the Sea Devil of. the tropics. These fish, though 
very large, display no great antipathy to man, though from 
their enormous size and strength they are a source of danger 
to small craft. Mr. Swinburne Ward in a letter to Colonel 
Playfair, quoted in Dr. Percival Wright's concise " Natural 
History," thus describes the capture of one of these monsters 
off the Seychelles. 

" Coming home we passed close to an enormous ' diable- 
de-mer ' floating quietly about. We changed from the pirogue 
to the whale-boat, which I had scientifically fitted up for the 
gros poissons, and went alongside of him, driving a regular 
whale harpoon right through his body. The way he towed 
the water was beautiful, but we would not give him an inch of 
line and he also had to succumb to a lather protracted lancing. 
His size will give you an idea of his strength in the water- 
forty- two feet in circumference ! We got him a wash on the 
beach, but the united strength of ten men could not get him 
an inch further, so we were obliged to leave him there. By 
this time the sharks will not have left much of him ; they 
have not had such a meal as that for a long time. The fisher- 



THE RAYS. 369 

men say that when alive the sharks do not molest the * diable- 
de-mer, ' whose offensive weapons consist of those enormous 
flexible sides (one can hardly call them fins) with which they 
can beat almost any shark to death. As a rule when har- 
pooned, they endeavour, like other rays, to bury themselves 
in the sand, and if they succeed in doing this, no line can ever 
haul them out of it — their flat bodies act on the principle of 
an enormous sucker. Another curious fact about them is that 
when harpooned they swim sideways, edge on, in order to 
avoid exposing too broad a surface to their enemy. They 
never do this unless harpooned. ' ' 

Bay Catching. Lieutenant Lamont gave the following graphic 
description of a Ray fishing expedition in which he took part 
near Port Royal, Jamaica, in 1824 to Professor Jameson. 

" The first appearance of an animal of this species, since I 
have been here (about eighteen months), was about two 
months ago, when I was called out to the beach by some of 
the inhabitants, whom I found, on going there, to be assem- 
bled in great numbers, to see what they called the Sea Devil. 
I confess my curiosity was not less excited than theirs, when 
I saw floating close to the surface of the water, about twenty 
yards from me, a large mass of living substance of a dark 
colour, but of the shape and size of which I could not, at the 
time, form any proper idea, it being so very different from 
what I had ever before seen or heard of, farther than that I 
supposed it to have been many times the size of what I now 
believe it was. No time was lost in setting out in pursuit of 
him, with harpoons, &c. ; and it was not long before he was 
come up with, and struck with one of the harpoons, when he 
made off with great velocity, towing the boat after him. As 
he seemed to incline chiefly to the surface of the water, six or 
seven more harpoons were (with the assistance of several canoes 
that had come up) successively plunged into him, and all the 
boats made fast to each other, which he was obliged to pull 
after him, with several people in each. Such, however, was 

24 



370 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

the great strength of the animal, that, after being fast in the 
manner I have described, for upwards of lour hours, and taking 
the boats out to sea attached to him to a distance of about ten 
miles from the harbour, and having been pierced with so many 
wounds, he was still able to defy every effort to bring him in. 
It had now got late, and was dark, and an attempt was made 
to force him up near enough to get another large harpoon into 
him ; this was no sooner done, than he darted off ; and by an 
almost unaccountable and seemingly convulsive effort, in a 
moment broke loose from all fetters, carrying away with him 
eight or ten harpoons and pikes, and leaving every one staring 
at his neighbour in speechless astonishment, confounded at 
the power of the animal which could thus snatch himself from 
them at a time when they conceived him almost completely in 
their power. 

" Since then some of these animals have occasionally been 
heard of at a distance from the harbour ; and a few days ago, 
in coming over from Fort Augusta with another gentleman, 
we fell in with one of them, which allowed us to get so near 
him, that it was determined to set out the next morning to 
look for him. We did so ; and took with us several large 
harpoons, muskets, pikes, &c, determined, if it were possible, 
to bring him in. He was described about eight o'clock near 
Greenwich, towards the top of the harbour, as usual floating 
near the surface, and moving slowly about. Having allowed 
the boat to get very close to him, he was struck with a har- 
poon, which was thrown at him in a most dexterous manner 
by Lieutenant St. John, of the royal artillery. He immediately 
set out towards the mouth of the harbour, towing the boat 
after him with such velocity, that it could not be overtaken by 
any of the others. After going on this way for near an hour 
he turned back, which enabled the other boats to lay hold ; 
and four of them were tied, one after the other, to the one in 
which he was harpooned, with four or five people in each of 
them. By this means we hoped to tire him out the sooner. 



RAY CATCHING. 37 1 

In about an hour and a half after ho was first struck, a favour- 
able opportunity offering, a large five-pointed harpoon, made 
fast to a very heavy staff, was thrown at him with such an ele- 
vation, that it should fall upon him with the whole weight of 
the weapon — this having been as well directed as the first, was 
lodged nearly in the middle of his back. The struggle he 
made at this time to get away was truly tremendous, — plung- 
ing in the midst of the boats, — darting from the bottom to the 
surface alternately, — dashing the water and foam on every side 
of him, — and rolling round and round to extricate himself 
from the pole. This might be considered as having given 
him the coup de grace, although, at short intervals afterwards, 
he was struck with two more harpoons, and several musket 
balls were fired into him. Still he was able to set out again, 
taking the four boats after him, which he carried along with 
the greatest ease. Having gone in this way for some time he 
came to a stop, and laid himself to the bottom, when, with 
all the lines that were attached to him, it was quite impossible 
to move him. All expedients were nearly beginning to fail, 
when it was proposed to slacken the lines, which being done 
had the desired effect, and he again set out. Having thus got 
him from the ground, inch by inch was gained upon him, till 
he was got near the surface, when he was struck with two large 
pikes. He now got rather faint ; and the boats closing on 
him on every side, the combat became general with pikes, 
muskets, and every weapon we had. In fact, to such a pitch 
were all excited on the occasion, that, had a cool spectator 
seen the affray, he would undoubtedly have imagined that it 
was his sable majesty himself that we had got amongst us. He 
was now towed ashore, being about five hours since he was 
first struck. This it required all the boats to do, and then 
but very slowly. His appearance now showed the extraordi- 
nary tenacity of life of which this animal must be possessed, 
as his whole body was literally a heap of wounds, many of 
which were through and through, and he was not yet quite 



372 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 

dead. This circumstance, with his great strength, is the cause 
of the name which has been given him by the fishermen here, 
as they have never been able to succeed in taking one of them, 
and were firmly of opinion it was impossible to do so. 

" On measurement, it was found to be in length and breadth 
much the same, about fifteen feet, and in depth from three to 
four feet. It had the appearance of having no head, as there 
was no prominence at its mouth ; on the contrary, its exterior 
margin formed, as it were, the segment of a circle, with its arc 
towards the animal's body, and opening into a large cavity of 
about two feet and a half in width, without teeth, into which a 
man went with so much ease, that I do not exaggerate when 
I say, that another might have done so at the same time. On 
each side of the mouth projected a mass of cartilaginous sub- 
stance like horns, about a foot and a half long, and capable of 
meeting before the mouth. These feelers moved about a great 
deal in swimming, and are probably of use in feeding. On 
looking on this animal as it lay on the ground with its back 
upwards, it might be said to be nearly equal in dimensions on 
every side, with the exception of the two lateral extremities, 
extending to a point about four feet from the body, and a tail 
about five feet long, four and a half inches diameter at the 
root, and tapering to a point. Above the root of the tail was 
the dorsal fin, and on each side of it a flat and flabby substance 
close to the body, of the appearance of fins. There were no 
other distinct fins, and its sole propelling power seemed to be 
its two lateral extremities, which became very flat and thin 
towards the point. As it shows these much in swimming, it 
gives a spectator an extraordinary idea of its size, as, to him 
imperfectly seen, the conclusion naturally is, if the breadth is 
so great, how much greater must the length be. This animal 
was a female, and was viviparous. On opening it, a young 
one, about twenty pounds weight, was taken out, perfectly 
formed, and which had been preserved. Wishing to know 
what it fed upon, I saw the stomach opened, which was round, 



RAY CATCHING. 373 

about eight inches in diameter, and quite empty. It was 
closely studded over with circular spots of a muscular sub- 
stance. Under the stomach was a long bag, with transverse 
muscular layers from end to end, and which contained noth- 
ing but some slime and gravel. This muscular appearance of 
the digestive organs would lead one to suppose that it fed upon 
other fish, as is the general opinion here, though its having no 
teeth does not support that idea. Its weight was so great that 
it was impossible to ascertain it at the time ; but some idea 
may be formed of it when I assure you that it was with diffi- 
culty that forty men, with two lines attached to it, could drag 
it along the ground. Its bones were soft, and, with the ex- 
ception of the jaw-bones, could be cut with a knife. One 
ridge of bone ran from the mouth to the middle of the back, 
where it was met by another running transversely, from the ex- 
tremities of which there were two larger ones converging towards 
the tail." 



